Heh, I worked a floor away from Dr. Szostak the year he won the Nobel. (Purely a curio, I've never met him and his knowledge didn't osmose my way.)
Call me boring, but my opinion is that telomerase activity is good until it isn't, just like everything else. However, Yamanaka's iPS work is a good reminder that sometimes manipulating a surprisingly few substances (4 proteins, in his case, leading to induced pluripotence of previously differentiated cells) is all that is needed for profound effect.
Call me boring, but my opinion is that telomerase activity is good until it isn't, just like everything else. However, Yamanaka's iPS work is a good reminder that sometimes manipulating a surprisingly few substances (4 proteins, in his case, leading to induced pluripotence of previously differentiated cells) is all that is needed for profound effect.