Telomere research opens up an important area in this field. There may be many more mechanisms by which aging can occur, however, telomere and telomerase research currently occupy the central position. It remains to be seen whether telomere research will eventually increase the human life span from its current level, or if it may totally eliminate the final phase of life-old age. The limited in vitro lifetime of human diploid cell strains. The cell biology of human aging.
Telomeres shorten during aging of human fibroblasts.
Telomere reduction in human colorectal carcinoma and with aging. Allsopp R, Vaziri H, Patterson C, et al. Telomere length predicts replicative capacity of human fibroblasts. Evidence for a critical telomere length in senescent human fibroblasts. Bodner AG, Ouellette M, Frolkis M, et al.