ArticleAging cell2017
The telomere lengthening conundrum - it could be biology.
Article in Aging cell, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Parental Age Effects on Offspring Telomere Length Across Vertebrates: A Meta-Analysis.Molecular ecology · 2026Pooled it
- Nucleotides as an Anti-Aging Supplementation in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial (TALENTs study).Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Trial
- Association of Short-term Change in Leukocyte Telomere Length With Cortical Thickness and Outcomes of Mental Training Among Healthy Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2019Trial
- Differential effects of endurance, interval, and resistance training on telomerase activity and telomere length in a randomized, controlled study.European heart journal · 2019Trial
- Telomere length dynamics do not predict subclinical atherosclerosis progression over a six-year period.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Social Interactions and Cell Aging Dynamics in Postpartum Women.Biological research for nursing · 2026Article
- Telomere length as a biomarker for cerebrovascular diseases: current evidence.Molecular biology reports · 2024Review
- Telomeres and telomerase: active but complex players in life-history decisions.Biogerontology · 2024Review
- Why and when should organisms elongate their telomeres? Elaborations on the 'excess resources elongation' and 'last resort elongation' hypotheses.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Telomere Length, Health, and Mortality in a Cohort of Older Black South African Adults.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2023Article
- The shelterin protein expansion of telomere dynamics: Linking early life adversity, life history, and the hallmarks of aging.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2023Review
- Temperature-independent telomere lengthening with age in the long-lived human fish (Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Longitudinal telomere dynamics within natural lifespans of a wild bird.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Shortened Infant Telomere Length Is Associated with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms in Children at Age Two Years: A Birth Cohort Study.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- The Longitudinal Associations Between Paternal Incarceration and Family Well-Being: Implications for Ethnic/Racial Disparities in Health.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2022Article
- Prediction of telomere length and telomere attrition using a genetic risk score: The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA).Frontiers in aging · 2022Article
- Measurement of Telomere Length for Longitudinal Analysis: Implications of Assay Precision.American journal of epidemiology · 2021Article
- Telomere attrition rates are associated with weather conditions and predict productive lifespan in dairy cattle.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Why do inequality and deprivation produce high crime and low trust?Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Seasonal variation in telomere dynamics in African striped mice.Oecologia · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Longitudinal studies of human leucocyte telomere length often report a percentage of individuals whose telomeres appear to lengthen. However, based on theoretical considerations and empirical data, Steenstrup et al. (Nucleic Acids Research, 2013, vol 41(13): e131) concluded that this lengthening is unlikely to be a real biological phenomenon and is more likely to be an artefact of measurement error. We dispute the logic underlying this claim. We argue that Steenstrup et al.'s analysis is incomplete because it failed to compare predictions derived from assuming a scenario with no true telomere lengthening with alternative scenarios in which true lengthening occurs. To address this deficit, we built a computational model of telomere dynamics that allowed us to compare the predicted percentage of observed telomere length gainers given differing assumptions about measurement error and the true underling dynamics. We modelled a set of scenarios, all assuming measurement error, but both with and without true telomere lengthening. We found a range of scenarios assuming some true telomere lengthening that yielded either similar or better quantitative fits to the empirical data on the percentage of individuals showing apparent telomere lengthening. We conclude that although measurement error contributes to the prevalence of apparent telomere lengthening, Steenstrup et al.'s conclusion was too strong, and current data do not allow us to reject the hypothesis that true telomere lengthening is a real biological phenomenon in epidemiological studies. Our analyses highlight the need for process-level models in the analysis of telomere dynamics.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.