Generally, we try to have a situation where the person is healthy, so you're not confounded by disease. So, that means that healthy individuals are donating their blood samples for the studies.
Checking your telomere length is a bit like weighing yourself: you get this single number which depends on a lot of factors. Telomere length gives a sense of your underlying health.
I was using very unconventional methods to sequence the telemetric DNA, originally.
Being senior enough in the field, having enough solidity, I don't feel afraid of being marginalized.
If a test showed you had telomere shortening, it would be a red flag suggesting you should take a look at possible risk factors.
In 2004, results from a study that I worked on with colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco, linked chronic stress to shortening of telomeres.
