Telomere length in young zebra finches predicts lifespan
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - 07:30
in Biology & Nature
(PhysOrg.com) -- For hundreds, if not thousands of years scientists have been seeking clues to explain why we humans, and all other animals for that matter, age. But its been only recently that some real clues have been found, and many of them center around telomeres, the caps that sit on the ends of chromosomes and prevent them from fraying. Now, in a new study by Pat Monaghan and colleagues at the University of Glasgow, it appears that at least with zebra finches, telomeres may serve as a predictor of longevity. In their study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they found that longer telomere length in the birds when they were young, pointed to a longer lifespan.