The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
1948-
American molecular biologist who has been a leader in the study of telomeres and telomerase. Telomeres are specialized structures containing short, repeating nucleotide sequences and are found at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes. Telomeres seem to protect the integrity of the chromosome, but normal somatic cells lose portions of the ends of the telomeres during cell division. Eventually, the unprotected chromosomes become unstable and the cells die. These observations support the telomere theory of aging. In 1985 Blackburn and Carol Greider discovered the enzyme telomerase, an unusual RNA-containing DNA polymerase that can add to the ends of chromosomal DNA. Most normal somatic cells lack telomerase, but cancer cells display telomerase activity, which might explain their ability to multiply indefinitely.