When the telomerase enzyme is not active the telomere shortens every time the ce

Question

When the telomerase enzyme is not active the telomere shortens every time the cell duplicates leading to a reproductive limit (Hayflicks limit). On one hand this is a believed reason for aging. On the other hand this makes a mutated cell more difficult to acquire cancer, since in order to become cancerous, it would need to mutate such that the telomere enzyme becomes active.

The telomere enzyme is not active in most human cells. Therefore activating the telomerase enzyme in somatic (body) cells could theoretically decrease aging but would also increase the risk of cancer.

Am I right to assume that in order to avoid aging of humans one would first need to "solve cancer"?

Explanation / Answer

Interesting question. My answer is no, but it requires a rather science-fiction style answer - at least it's beyond current technology, but here goes:

My Assumptions

I make the simplifying assumption that ageing is only related to telomere length. Thus by "avoid ageing" I assume you mean "avoid telomere shortening". Also to clarify things for others, I'll clear up the role of telomeres in aging and cancer:

Telomeres in cancer - it has been hypothesised that telomeres act as "mitotic clocks" - keeping track of how many times a cell can divide before it stops. This "time limit" is supposed to put a halt to cancerous cells before becoming malignant.

Telomeres in aging - Since telomeres set a limit to the number of times a cell can divide this essentially sets a time limit for the organism as a whole - those cells that divide faster (e.g. hair and skin cells) go out first (grey hair and wrinkles) etc.

Short answer

No.

Long answer

All we need to do is come up with a way to somehow "maintain" average telomere length at some "safe" length, i.e. we keep them at a length that is long enough to prevent us from aging but short enough so that a cancerous cell will not be able to proliferate to dangerous numbers.

For example, every now and then we provide "telomere length booster jabs" (this is some abstract fictional idea of course). This is like adding more time to our lives when we are about to run out: "Oh look, I only have three months left!", "Don't you worry, with our new telomere booster jab you will have an extra 3 months!"...

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