Question

Suppose that a human zygote begins life with 1500 telomere repeats. Most somatic cells lose telomeres at every mitotic cell division. Further suppose that a cell begins to lose essential genes (non-telomere sequences) from its ends after 50 cell generations.How many cells are produced from one precursor cell after 50 cell generations, assuming that all cells survive? On average, how many telomeres are lost at each mitosis? Explain why telomeres are lost in the context of the question.

Answer 1