Mice without telomerase: what can they teach us about human cancer?

Unicellular organisms, human cells and mice have provided insights into the processes of senescence, crisis, genomic instability and cancer in humans. Here, Artandi and DePinho discuss how studies in mice have uncovered a complex interplay between the ARF-p53 pathway, genomic instability due to telomere dysfunction, and the suppression or promotion of cancer.