Taken together, evidence from the study of a wide range of human degenerative diseases, both inherited and acquired, points to limiting telomeres as key pathogenetic elements driving degenerative pathologies, increasing cancer risk and shortening lifespan. In this light, the sizes of telomere reserves and their level of persistent damage or, better, measurements of their capping status may prove useful as biomarkers of disease progression and may offer new opportunities for proactive therapeutic interventions involving transient somatic activation of endogenous telomerase to replenish or repair telomeres.
