Genome wide association study of epigenetic aging rates in blood reveals a critical role for TERT

Researchers from several institutions, including, UCLA, Boston University, Stanford University and the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife, analyzed blood samples from nearly 10,000 people to find that genetic markers in the gene responsible for keeping telomeres (tips of chromosomes) youthfully longer, did not translate into a younger biologic age as measured by changes in proteins coating the DNA. This study was recently published in the journal Nature Communications.