with excessive scarring)54 and bone marrow failure syndromes55, highlighting the complex and tissue-specific manifestation of telomere length maintenance defects. Beyond inherited genetic disorders, telomeres also seem to be relevant to ‘acquired’ degenerative conditions associated with chronically elevated tissue turnover. The most notable example is liver cirrhosis, the seventh most common cause of death by disease in humans worldwide56, which shows a progressive decline in telomere reserves with increased heaptocyte turnover, leading to sustained hepatocyte proliferative arrest and apoptosis culminating in liver failure.
