Telomeres are found at the end of chromosomes to protect genes from reduction during replication of chromosomes, especially during meiosis or mitosis. They are composed of repetitive sequences that do not code for protein. Telomeres become reducted especially due to the inability of the lagging strand to be completely replicated to the end of the chromosome. However, while the telomeres become shorted with every replication, the telomeres are usually slightly elongated by telomerase reverse transcriptase.