Telomere maintenance is required for chromosome stability. Telomeres are maintained principally by the action of the reverse transcriptase telomerase. In cells that lack telomerase, telomere length is preserved by an alternate mechanism termed ALT. A new study reports that recombination between telomeres is responsible for ALT in human cells. As telomerase is a potential target for cancer therapy, these findings indicate that an assault on telomere maintenance may have to contend with two pathways.
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Smith, S. Recombination: a means to an end in human cells. Nat Genet 26, 388–389 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/82492
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/82492
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