Telomere extension involves

Telomere extension involves

• A. Shorten chromosome ends to speed aging
• B. Copying the mind into computers
• C. Lengthening chromosome ends to slow aging; can increase cancer risk and remains experimental
• D. Freezing the body after death

Answer: (C)

Lengthening chromosome ends helps protect genetic information during cell division and can slow aging. Telomeres shorten with each division, contributing to cellular aging, so extending them could allow cells to divide longer and delay some aging processes. However, this approach raises cancer risk because keeping cells proliferating longer can enable cancer cells to grow uncontrollably, and the methods to do this are not yet safe or reliable in humans. For that reason, telomere extension remains experimental and not a standard treatment. The other options don’t fit: shortening telomeres would speed aging, copying the mind into computers is a digital immortality idea unrelated to telomeres, and freezing the body after death is cryonics, not a telomere-based intervention.

Lengthening chromosome ends helps protect genetic information during cell division and can slow aging. Telomeres shorten with each division, contributing to cellular aging, so extending them could allow cells to divide longer and delay some aging processes. However, this approach raises cancer risk because keeping cells proliferating longer can enable cancer cells to grow uncontrollably, and the methods to do this are not yet safe or reliable in humans. For that reason, telomere extension remains experimental and not a standard treatment. The other options don’t fit: shortening telomeres would speed aging, copying the mind into computers is a digital immortality idea unrelated to telomeres, and freezing the body after death is cryonics, not a telomere-based intervention.