Cancerous cells divide repeatedly without exhibiting the shortening of DNA typical of normal cells that occur with replication. Why is this important?

Cancer cells resist aging due to an enzyme telomerase, which elongates and preserves genetic material after repeated cycles of replication.

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Cancer cells become immortalized due to extra quantities of the enzyme DNA primase which can repair pieces of DNA that break off during replication.

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Cancer cells have longer life spans than normal cells as a result of a special kind of DNA polymerase that can function in all temperatures during replication.

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Cancer cells can extend the ends of the DNA in regions where primers were not replaced by DNA nucleotides due to the enzyme ligase.

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Solution

The correct option is A Cancer cells resist aging due to an enzyme telomerase, which elongates and preserves genetic material after repeated cycles of replication.
Telomers are transcriptionally inactive or heterogenous structures of DNA that prevent the sticking of DNA molecules with each other. They are maintained by enzyme telomerase. Thus, DNA is protected from damage. However, the size of the telomer and enzyme telomerase reduces with every cell division. This leads to aging and death of the cell.
This does not happen with cancerous cells as they produce large amount of telomerase so that they can continuously divide and do not age and die.
So, the correct answer is 'Cancer cells resist aging due to an enzyme telomerase, which elongates and preserves genetic material after repeated cycles of replication'

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Similar questions

Q. A mutation occurs in the gene encoding the enzyme DNA polymerase of a eukaryotic cell. Which of the following events of DNA replication would not occur?

Q. (a) Name the stage in the cell cycle where DNA replication occurs.

(b) Explain the mechanism of DNA replication. Highlight the role of enzymes in the process.

(c) Why is DNA replication said to be semi-conservative? [5]

DNA replication occurs during which part of the cell cycle?

Match the following enzymes of DNA replication with their respective functions:
$\begin{matrix} p . D N A p o l y m e r a s e & i . H e l p s u n z i p t h e D N A d o u b l e h e l i x q . D N A l i g a s e & i i . S e a l s n i c k s b e t w e e n O k a z a k i f r a g m e n t s r . D N A h e l i c a s e & i i i . L a y s R N A p r i m e r s t o w h i c h p o l y m e r a s e c a n a d d n u c l e o t i d e s s . P r i m a s e & i v . A d d s n u c l e o t i d e s t o t h e f r e e 3^{'} e n d o f R N A p r i m e r s \end{matrix}$

Match the following enzymes of DNA replication with their respective functions:

p. DNA polymerase i. Helps unzip the DNA double helix

q. DNA ligase ii. Seals nicks between Okazaki fragments

r. DNA helicase iii. Lays RNA primers to which polymerase can add nucleotides

s. Primase iv. Adds nucleotides to the free 3’ end of RNA primers

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