Chromosome Research Suggests Exercise Fights Aging: The Immortality Enzyme

A new study on chromosomes takes a look at prolonging life and slowing aging, explaining it on a cellular level.

Telomeres are structures at the end of chromosomes, which shrink over time. As one of these DNA protein complexes shortens, the rate of human cell death decreases, ultimately weakening the body, leading to death. In other words, we could say short telomeres equal shorter lives. If this nebulous concept seems frightening, fret not.

We've all heard before that exercise makes us healthier. We are encouraged to "maintain an active lifestyle." But what does that mean biologically? The study by Dr. Dean Ornish showed that strenuous exercise was related to the maintenance of telomere length, if it is carried out over a long term. By running or exercising strenuously and regularly in the years to come, if you don't enjoy it, you may feel pain and exhaustion. But on the bright side, your body would be releasing an enzyme called telomerase which prevents the shortening of telomeres and improves the health of your cells. Hence this enzyme has been appropriately named the "immortality enzyme," whose discoverers won the Nobel Prize in medicine. So if you are willing to make this “comprehensive lifestyle change,” you will reap the rewards of a longer, healthier life.