In a broad range of species—including humans—it has been demonstrated that telomere
length declines throughout life and that it may be involved in cell and organismal
senescence. This potential link to ageing and thus to fitness has triggered recent interest in
understanding how variation in telomere length is inherited and maintained. However,
previous studies suffer from two main drawbacks that limit the possibility of understanding
the relative importance of genetic, parental and environmental influences on telomere length …

In a broad range of species-including humans-it has been demonstrated that telomere
length declines throughout life and that it may be involved in cell and organismal
senescence. This potential link to ageing and thus to fitness has triggered recent interest in
understanding how variation in telomere length is inherited and maintained. However,
previous studies suffer from two main drawbacks that limit the possibility of understanding
the relative importance of genetic, parental and environmental influences on telomere length …