2 replies to this topic

[InquilineKea]

So I got my genome scanned, and this is in my genome:

rs12696304(G;G)
Magnitude: 1
Frequency: 7.1%
References:10
ambig

rs12696304 is a SNP near the TERC gene, which encodes the telomerase RNA component. A genome-wide association study of mean leukocyte telomere length in 2,917 individuals, with follow-up replication in 9,492 individuals, found that each rs12696304(G) allele was significantly (p = 3.72 × 10?14) associated with a ~75-base-pair reduction in mean telomere length, equivalent to ~3.6 years of age-related telomere-length attrition. In other words, in terms of biological aging, this report implies that individuals carrying one rs12696304(G) allele will appear 3.6 years 'older', and those with two such alleles 7.2 years 'older', than rs12696304(C;C) individuals, at least in terms of telomere length. Telomere shortening can lead to premature aging, in terms of increased risk for age-associated disea...

..Ugh..

[tunt01]

Not to complete discount that tidbit but I would note the following:

1. Telomere lengths tend to be a skewed distribution, therefore the median value is typically more instructive, not the mean (as that snippet implies).

2. The percentage of critically short telomeres, not median telomere (or average) may be what matters more. I don't know the answer, but it's important to keep in mind that even if you have shorter telomeres on average, as long as they are not critically short, you might be fine.

[John Schloendorn]

Second that. I'd be concerned about predictors of death or disease, which is presumably what you care about if you're on this forum. If people say something predicts a potential biomarker, then that most likely translates as "We looked, and didn't see an effect on any disease. Therefore our biomarker isn't actually a biomarker, which is really too bad. We know better than trying to publish negative data. Thank you."