To help raise awareness of rare disease dyskeratosis congenita, and other telomere biology disorders caused by short telomeres, Jeni has shared her experience this Rare Disease Day. My name is Jeni Colter. At fifty years old, I have many things; A wonderful husband, two great kids, a house, two dogs and very short telomeres. Very, […]
Telomeres shorten as we age and the risk of cancer increases as we get older; here we explore some ways telomeres affect cancer risk. Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and with rates of many cancers increasing year on year, it is a priority research area in terms of improving understanding, diagnosis and […]
Telomere length is often considered a biological marker for aging and has been linked to cell lifespan, as well as certain diseases. Here we take a closer look at the relationship between telomeres and aging. What is a telomere? A telomere is a repetitive chain of DNA repeats found on the end of our chromosomes. […]
Since the COVID-19 global pandemic was declared by World Health Organization in March 2020 there has been a large amount of research conducted and published. Here we examine a couple of recent studies that have been conducted into telomeres and COVID-19. Short telomeres and COVID-19 A study conducted in Belgium, published in Aging, set out […]
In this blog we examine what short telomeres are and what short telomere syndromes can mean for certain individuals. What are telomeres for? Our chromosomes need to be protected to prevent damage, or them fusing with other chromosomes. Telomeres are the protective structures found on the end of chromosomes. They are made up of thousands […]