Video: Techniques to measure telomere length

Accurately measuring telomere length is important for the diagnosis of telomere biology disorders, for research into how telomeres affect health span and aging, and their links to cancer. In this video we discuss a number of techniques to measure telomere length.

Telomeres — the protective caps on the ends of our chromosomes — hold important information about our health. But research in this field relies on being able to accurately measure telomere length.

Telomere length measurements are crucial when it comes to diagnosing and developing treatments for Telomere Biology Disorders, as well as conducting research into how telomeres affect health span, and their links to cancer.

Within the video we briefly run through techniques to measure telomere length such as TRF, qPCR, STELA and Flow FISH.

RepeatDx specializes in Flow FISH, which can measure the telomeres in many different blood cell types at the same time.

This is part of a series of six videos where we explore telomeres, telomere length and telomerase, as well as the impacts they have on our health and aging.

Missed the previous video on how telomere length affects cancer risk? Watch it here.

Watch the series from the beginning with the video on what telomeres are and how they protect our cells.

RepeatDx is a leading clinical laboratory for telomere length testing. You can find out more on our website: www.repeatdx.com

Follow us on Twitter: @RepeatDx

References

1. Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Position Statement on Genetic Testing (2020). Available from: https://www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org/researchers-healthcare-providers/clinical-resources/position-statements/genetic-testing-in-pulmonary-fibrosis-for-health-care-providers

2. Savage, S, A. and Cook, E, F. (editors) Dyskeratosis Congenita and Telomere Biology Disorders: Diagnosis and Management Guidelines (2015). Available from: https://teamtelomere.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/DC-TBD-Diagnosis-And-Management-Guidelines.pdf

3. Aubert, G., Baerlocher, G. M., Vulto, I., Poon, S. S. & Lansdorp, P. M. Collapse of telomere homeostasis in hematopoietic cells caused by heterozygous mutations in telomerase genes. PLoS Genet 8, e1002696, doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1002696 (2012).