Banana Telomeres
The Saturday Museum | Digital Image
Peel a banana and cut or nibble a bit off the end. Do the same at the other end and repeat.
This kitchen experiment was created by Tim and Mike. It helps us to understand that each time a cell copies itself a small part of the end, called a telomere, gets a bit shorter. Over time the telomeres get too short to do their job, which is partly why we age.