The End Game: Discovering how telomeres cause disease

Science In the Neighborhood
A public lecture series hosted quarterly by the UC Santa Cruz Science Division

The End Game: Discovering how telomeres cause disease
Presentation by Carol Greider, Professor, UC Santa Cruz
Q&A with Susan Carpenter, Professor, UC Santa Cruz

Telomeres, the ends of chromosomes, play a pivotal role in human disease. Short telomeres cause age-related degenerative disease, while long telomeres predispose people to cancer. That’s why understanding how telomere length is regulated is so critical. Dr. Greider’s research is uncovering the mechanism of telomere length regulation so that we can devise approaches for disease treatment. By using new DNA-sequencing technology in a novel way, her team made a surprising discovery: Each chromosome end has a unique telomere-length distribution that is different from other chromosome ends. Dr. Greider will explain how this finding will help us better understand the role of telomeres in disease.

December 11, 2025 | 6:00–7:30 p.m.
Coastal Biology Building. Rm. 110
UC Santa Cruz Coastal Campus
130 McAllister Way
Santa Cruz, CA 95060