IJE Advance Access originally published online on September 22, 2006
International Journal of Epidemiology 2006 35(6):1424-1429; doi:10.1093/ije/dyl169
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© The Author 2006; all rights reserved.
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Human telomere biology: pitfalls of moving from the laboratory to epidemiology
1 The Center of Human Development and Aging of the New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA.
2 Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, Kings College London, St Thomas' Campus, London, UK.
Corresponding author: The Center of Human Development and Aging, 185 South Orange Avenue, Newark, NJ 07103, USA. E-mail: avivab{at}umdnj.edu
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Abstract |
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Remarkable progress has been made during the last 2 decades in understanding telomere biology at the molecular and cellular levels. Clinical epidemiology research of human telomeres, in contrast, is a discipline just coming into its own. The most important observation in studying human telomere biology is that telomere length is highly variable among humans. Here we explain some of the reasons for this variability and propose several principles that should be considered in conducting epidemiological telomere research. Ignoring these principles could lead to misleading conclusions.
Keywords Telomere, leukocyte, lymphocytes, ageing
Accepted 5 July 2006
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