In a lab in the heart of Campbell Hall, UAB biologist Trygve
Tollefsbol, Ph.D., D.O., stores the secret to immortality—but you may not want it.
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| Trygve Tollefsbol is a renowned expert on telomerase, an enzyme that plays crucial roles in determining our lifespans and fueling cancer growth. |
Telomerase, the enzyme in question, is a quirky character.
Even though it is dormant most of the time, it appears to play a key role in
all three of Tollefsbol’s main research interests: aging, cancer, and
epigenetics.
Telomerase’s job is to lengthen telomeres, little caps at
the end of our chromosomes that keep the chromosomes from becoming unstable
during cell division. (They’re kind of like the plastic cylinders on the ends
of shoelaces, Tollefsbol says.) But a little bit gets shaved off with each cycle
of division. Eventually, there is very little protective telomere left, and
cells age and stop dividing.
