Do People With Longer Telomeres Live Longer Lives? (TERT)

Telomeres are sequences of DNA at the ends of each chromosome. They don’t code for anything; instead, their job is to protect your DNA from damage while it’s being copied. Each time your cells divide, your DNA duplicates, and your telomeres get shorter [R].

When your telomeres are too short to protect your DNA, your cells enter a state called senescence: they stop dividing. Ultimately, if these cells trigger the DNA damage response (DDR), they will be tagged for death [R, R].

Telomerase is an enzyme that adds more nucleotides to the end of the telomere, elongating them. This allows your cells to divide and grow for longer [R].

Telomerase is an enzyme that lengthens telomeres, the sequences of protective DNA at the ends of chromosomes.

Researchers have long suspected that shortening telomeres are among the causes of aging.

In adult tissues, there isn’t enough telomerase to keep up with cell division. Gradually, over the course of our lifespans, our telomeres get shorter and shorter, and more and more of our cells enter senescence. Thus, older people can’t grow and regenerate their tissues as effectively as younger people [R, R].

Short telomeres have also been linked with degenerative diseases and premature aging in humans. In this light, many researchers have attempted to discover whether activating telomerase and elongating telomeres can prevent or delay aging in humans and animals [R, R, R].

Can Telomeres Make You Live Longer?

Telomere extension has already worked as an anti-aging strategy in animal models.

In one memorable study, middle-aged and older mice (one and two years old) were treated with gene therapy that increased their TERT expression. Those that received the treatment lived for 13-24% longer than those without. Best of all? There were no apparent side effects to the procedure [R].

This is important because some research suggests that excess telomerase activity may increase the risk of some types of cancer. For a more complete discussion of telomeres, check out this post.

Cells with shortened telomeres can’t divide, and mice that received gene therapy to increase TERT expression lived longer. Thus, shortening telomeres may be a cause of aging.

Hold on tight: the TERT gene has a lot of known variations. Most people will probably have a mix of variations that increase and decrease relative telomere length, so it’s important to look at as many SNPs as possible to see which way you lean.

TERT rs10069690

• ‘C’ = Increased relative telomere length, longer possible lifespan, may increase the risk of some cancers
• ‘T’ = Decreased relative telomere length, may increase the risk of some degenerative diseases
• About 16% of people worldwide have the ‘TT’ genotype (short telomeres)

TERT rs2736100

• ‘C’ = Increased relative telomere length, longer possible lifespan, may increase the risk of glioma
• ‘A’ = Decreased relative telomere length, increased risk of degenerative lung disease
• About 27% of people worldwide have the ‘AA’ genotype (short telomeres)

TERT rs13167280

• ‘A’ = Increased relative telomere length, longer possible lifespan, may increase the risk of some cancers
• ‘G’ = Decreased relative telomere length, may increase the risk of some degenerative diseases
• About 80% of people worldwide have the ‘GG’ genotype (short telomeres)

TERT rs2075786

• ‘A’ = Increased relative telomere length, longer possible lifespan, may increase the risk of some cancers
• ‘G’ = Decreased relative telomere length, may increase the risk of some degenerative diseases
• About 21% of people worldwide have the ‘GG’ genotype (short telomeres)

TERT rs2242652

• ‘G’ = Increased relative telomere length, longer possible lifespan, may increase the risk of some cancers
• ‘A’ = Decreased relative telomere length, may increase the risk of some degenerative diseases
• About 3% of people worldwide have the ‘AA’ genotype (short telomeres)

TERT rs2735940

• ‘A’ = Increased relative telomere length, longer possible lifespan, may increase the risk of some cancers
• ‘G’ = Decreased relative telomere length, may increase the risk of some degenerative diseases
• About 24% of people worldwide have the ‘GG’ genotype (short telomeres)

TERT rs2736098

• ‘C’ = Increased relative telomere length, longer possible lifespan, may increase the risk of some cancers
• ‘T’ = Decreased relative telomere length, may increase the risk of some degenerative diseases
• About 10% of people worldwide have the ‘TT’ genotype (short telomeres)

TERT rs2736108

• ‘T’ = Increased relative telomere length, longer possible lifespan, may increase the risk of some cancers
• ‘C’ = Decreased relative telomere length, may increase the risk of some degenerative diseases
• About 55% of people worldwide have the ‘CC’ genotype (short telomeres)

TERT rs2853669

• ‘A’ = Increased relative telomere length, longer possible lifespan, may increase the risk of some cancers
• ‘G’ = Decreased relative telomere length, may increase the risk of some degenerative diseases
• About 13% of people worldwide have the ‘GG’ genotype (short telomeres)

TERT rs2853672

• ‘A’ = Increased relative telomere length, longer possible lifespan, may increase the risk of some cancers
• ‘C’ = Decreased relative telomere length, may increase the risk of some degenerative diseases
• About 29% of people worldwide have the ‘CC’ genotype (short telomeres)

TERT rs2853676

• ‘C’ = Increased relative telomere length, longer possible lifespan, may increase the risk of some cancers
• ‘T’ = Decreased relative telomere length, may increase the risk of some degenerative diseases
• About 8% of people worldwide have the ‘TT’ genotype (short telomeres)

TERT rs2853677

• ‘A’ = Increased relative telomere length, longer possible lifespan, may increase the risk of some cancers
• ‘G’ = Decreased relative telomere length, may increase the risk of some degenerative diseases
• About 17% of people worldwide have the ‘GG’ genotype (short telomeres)

TERT rs4975605

• ‘C’ = Increased relative telomere length, longer possible lifespan, may increase the risk of some cancers
• ‘A’ = Decreased relative telomere length, may increase the risk of some degenerative diseases
• About 12% of people worldwide have the ‘AA’ genotype (short telomeres)

TERT rs7705526

• ‘A’ = Increased relative telomere length, longer possible lifespan, may increase the risk of some cancers
• ‘C’ = Decreased relative telomere length, may increase the risk of some degenerative diseases
• About 47% of people worldwide have the ‘CC’ genotype (short telomeres)