• A reverse transcriptase responsible for maintaining the telomere length of replicating cells. Telomerase recognizes a telomere-specific GC rich sequence and adds telomeric repeats by using and RNA template.
  NCI
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• An enzyme in cells that helps keep them alive by adding DNA to telomeres (the ends of chromosomes). Each time a cell divides, the telomeres lose a small amount of DNA and become shorter. Over time, the chromosomes become damaged and the cells die. Telomerase helps keep this from happening. Cancer cells usually have more telomerase than most normal cells.
  NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• An essential ribonucleoprotein reverse transcriptase that adds telomeric DNA to the ends of eukaryotic CHROMOSOMES.
  NLM Medical Subject Headings
  U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
• NonEC; reverse transcriptase like ribonucleoprotein that maintains the telomere sequence; expressed in tumor cells but not in normal cells.
  CRISP Thesaurus
  National Institutes of Health, 2006