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Unit6-Commission

EARLY RESEARCH

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ResearchKeythingstoworkout

1)TheSciencebehindTelomeres

2)Thetargetgroup

3)Howtoconnectthesciencetothetargetgroup

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1theScience

IleEschool20yearsago.IvaguelyremembermakingaDNAhelixoutofstraws.ButthescienceisbeyondmeandIcantfindanytelomeresfordummiesbooks,soIhaveharanguedascience-teacherfriendintoexplainingitall.Thishas

beenahugehelp.

Humansaremadeofmillionsofcells.Thishas

anumberofbenefits:

Cellscanbespecialisedtodoparculartasks

groupsofcellscanfunconasorgansmakingamoreefficientbutcomplex

organism

theorganismcangrowverylarge

Cells

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Newcellsareneededthroughoutlife.Theseare

forgrowth,toreplacedamagedcellsandrepair

wornoutssues.Normalhumanbodycellsare

diploidtheyhavetwoofeachchromosome.

Whennewcellsaremade,these46

chromosomes(inotherorganismsthenumber

isdifferent)arecopiedexactlyinaprocess

calledmitosis.

Mitosisisthetypeofcelldivisionusedfor

growthandrepair.Mitosisoccurswherevernew

cellsareneeded.Itproducestwocellsthatare

idencaltoeachother,andtheparentcell.Inmitosiseachchromosomeiscopiedexactly.

Thenewchromosomesaremovedtoopposite

sidesofthecell,beforethecelldividesleaving

onecompletesetof46chromosomesineachof

thetwonewcells.

Celldivision

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WhatareTelomeres?

Whataretelomeres?

RepeatedDNAthatformsprotecvecapsattheendsofourchromosomes.

Telomeresperformasimilarroletotheplascpattheendofashoelace.Liketheseplasc

psthatkeepshoelacesfrombecomingdamagedorfrayed,telomeresprotectourchromosomesfromthecricalshorteninganddamagethatmayulmatelyleadtocellulardeathandlossofhealth.Telomeresshortenoverme,andthisshorteningisconsideredbothamarkerofcellagingaclockofthe

cell'slifespanaswellasacausalfactorincellaging.Telomereshorteningislikea"genecmeclock"indicangareducedcellularlifespan.Whentelomeresreachcricallyshortlengths,theclock"runsoutofme,"andcellsceasetofunconnormallyandcandiealtogether.

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Howaretelomeresdifferentfromtherestofour

DNA?

TelomeresconsistofaspecialDNAsequenceandspecializedtelomericproteinsthattogetherformaprotecvecaponourchromosomes.Unlikeanyotherpartofthegenome,theyare

consideredabiologicalmarkeroftheaccumulatedwearandtearofliving,integranggenecinfluences,lifestylebehaviorsandstress.Mostimportantlytelomeresaretheonlyknownpartof

ourgenecsequencethataredynamic,andtheyappeartobeinfluencedbynon-genecfactorssuchaslifestylechanges(diet,behavior,andmentalwellbeing).

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Howaretelomeresrelatedtolifeandaging?

Telomereshorteningisinmatelyinvolvedinhumandiseaseandmortality.Shorttelomeresimpairtheabilityofcellstodivideproperly.WhentheDNAinacellisunabletoproperlyreplicate,thecelleitherundergoescelldeath,orpotenallyworse,connuestostayalivebutfunconspoorly.Poorlyfunconingcellscanaltera

healthyphysiologicalbalanceinthebody,by,forexample,creangahighlevelofpro-inflammatorycytokinesintheblood.

Studieshaveshownassociaonsbetweenshortertelomerelengthandvarioustypesofcardiovasculardisease(e.g.,stroke,heartaacks),cancer,anddiabetes.Shortertelomereshavealsobeenassociatedwithosteoporosis,cognivefuncon,demena,depression,andinflammatorydiseaseslikearthris.Conversely,longertelomeresarelinkedtohealthyagingandoveralllongevity.

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Targetgroup

Childrenandyoungpeopledontwanttoknowaboutaging.

Olderpeopledontnecessarilywanttoknowaboutaging,butareinterestedinhowtohold

theprocessoff

Itisnotrelevantfortheveryelderly Mytargetgroupis50+-theysllhavemetochangetheirhabits!

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PresenngInformaonforthetargetgroup

ItisreasonabletoassumethatcompaniessuchasSagahavedoneextensivemarketresearchintothistargetgroup.

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However,aquicksurveyofpeopleaged50+revealedthat,

whiletheyareclearandeasytofollow,theseweb-pages

aimedat50+areflatanduninspiring.

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Theseexampleshavetoomuchinformaontobeclear

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Theseareclear,bright

butnotoverpowering,

andfun!

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Andthefavourite

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Whatpartoftheinformaondotheyneed/wantto

know?

Frommyselectgroupofover50s:

Whatishappening,inlay-mansterms-minimalscience Howitimpactsonmenow Isittoolatetobotherworryingaboutit?