At the ends of your chromosomes are telomeres - protective caps that keep your DNA stable, much like the plastic tips on shoelaces. Every time a cell divides, telomeres naturally shorten. When they become too short, the cell can no longer divide safely. This is one of the biological mechanisms of aging. What surprised scientists is how strongly stress accelerates this process. Research led by Nobel Prize–winning scientist Elizabeth Blackburn, who co-discovered telomerase (the enzyme that maintai