Laboratory Notebook: Telomere Lengths Experiments, Mammals 1-11, 1989

The notebook begins with a letter from Harley regarding DNA samples and a Southern blot test. Harley directed Greider on how to work with DNA that was unusable and how to create a better southern blot test. There was another letter which detailed telomere length assays using human fibroblasts. In another letter Stillman was responding to Harley stating that Harley belived that telomeres get shorter in somatic cell studies because the telomerase enzyme is inactive. Telomeres have been found in HeLa cells, and Harley thought Greider could measure telomere length in fibroblasts, which was Harley's work. This would allow them to determine where the RNA is most active. In a correspondence with Goldstein, Harley and Goldstien notice a clear decrease in telomere length in fibroblasts. There doesn't seem to be a rearrangement of the telomere with respect to the restriction sites. Also possible tissue culture variables that hadn’t been analyzed yet. This could also possibly be effecting telomere length. The correspondence also included a diagram of subcloning human telomere. An interesting note, a letter to the editor of the journal Nature. The letter detailed that Greider, Stillman and Harley coauthored an article which described the gradual shortening of human fibroblast telomeres. Correlated cellular aging with telomere loss. The manuscript was rejected. The authors believed the manuscript should be edited and resent to the journal. Another interesting note: Harley was conducting experiments regarding cellular gaining diseases, like the disease Progeria, alongside Goldstein’s lab. The average telomere length is fibroblasts is shorter in Progeria patients. Several documents also pertain to the new type of gel technology- Beta Scope Analyzer, which was more efficient and has a higher resolution.