ArticleNature genetics2021
Polygenic basis and biomedical consequences of telomere length variation.
Article in Nature genetics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 261 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
261 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 355 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genome-wide meta-analysis across East Asian and European populations provides insights into the molecular basis of lung cancer.Genome medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Inflammatory cytokines are associated with stroke and risk factors of cerebrovascular diseases: a Mendelian randomization study.Mammalian genome : official journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society · 2025Pooled it
- Cross-Trait Meta-Analysis Reveals a Genetic Link between Inflammation and Aging in Giant Cell Arteritis.Aging and disease · 2025Pooled it
- Assessing the contribution of rare protein-coding germline variants to prostate cancer risk and severity in 37,184 cases.Nature communications · 2025Pooled it
- Novel loci and biomedical consequences of iron homoeostasis variation.Communications biology · 2024Pooled it
- Validation of human telomere length multi-ancestry meta-analysis association signals identifies POP5 and KBTBD6 as human telomere length regulation genes.Nature communications · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- How telomere attrition protects against cancer.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2026Review
- Biological Aging, Immune Phenotypes, and Susceptibility to COVID-19 and Sepsis: A Mendelian Randomization Study.Virus research · 2026Article
- Leukocyte telomere length and risk of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in high-risk Chinese patients with hypertension under 65 years.GeroScience · 2026Observational
- The ageing holobiont: crosstalk between telomere dynamics, oxidative stress and the gut microbiome.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026Review
- Longitudinal characterization of mosaic chromosomal alterations identifies factors influencing clonal dynamics of leukocytes.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Statin Use and Genetically Predicted HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibition in Relation to Clonal Hematopoiesis.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Mapping the genetically predicted associations between lower-extremity muscle traits and spinal diseases.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- The genetic relationship between ADHD and shortened telomeres points to neurodevelopmental mechanisms.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- The effect of micronutrient levels on leukocyte telomere length: A Mendelian randomization study.Medicine · 2026Article
- Erythrocyte Count, Anemia, and the Human Natural Lifespan Limit: Evidence from the Long Life Family Study.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Genetic and epigenetic underpinnings of biological aging: a multi-omics study integrating Mendelian randomization, spatial transcriptomics, and drug target discovery.Clinical epigenetics · 2026Article
- A genomic structural equation modelling analysis of the shared genetic architecture of the aging spine.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- Saturating variant analysis of TERC redefines the human telomerase reverse transcription mechanism.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
201 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
28 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Telomeres, the end fragments of chromosomes, play key roles in cellular proliferation and senescence. Here we characterize the genetic architecture of naturally occurring variation in leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and identify causal links between LTL and biomedical phenotypes in 472,174 well-characterized UK Biobank participants. We identified 197 independent sentinel variants associated with LTL at 138 genomic loci (108 new). Genetically determined differences in LTL were associated with multiple biological traits, ranging from height to bone marrow function, as well as several diseases spanning neoplastic, vascular and inflammatory pathologies. Finally, we estimated that, at the age of 40 years, people with an LTL >1 s.d. shorter than the population mean had a 2.5-year-lower life expectancy compared with the group with ≥1 s.d. longer LDL. Overall, we furnish new insights into the genetic regulation of LTL, reveal wide-ranging influences of LTL on physiological traits, diseases and longevity, and provide a powerful resource available to the global research community.
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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.