The long and short of telomere rejuvenation

You won’t find the elixirs of immortality prepared by alchemists in ancient China on sale today. With ingredients including mercury and its main ore (cinnabar) and highly toxic arsenic sulfides (realgar and orpiment), they would not exactly have the effect on longevity that was hoped by ancient emperors. Yet the dream of an elixir of youth remains as potent as ever, and among the modern varieties – seemingly as validated by science as the old alchemical ones were in their day – are telomerase creams. ‘By restoring activity of an enzyme called telomerase, this cream enhances skin cell longevity right down to your DNA’ says one advert, offering a small jar for just $33.75 (£26.75). (A snip compared to Estée-Lauder’s ‘telomere-lengthening’ Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond, containing truffle extract and costing $435 a bottle.)

The telomere story is well rehearsed. ‘Telomeres are tiny “caps” at ends of each DNA strand’, the advert explains. ‘They keep those strands safe from a wide variety of challenges – and the longer your DNA’s telomeres are, the more robust their protective qualities are going to be.’ But it seems the story is not that simple, and a new study suggests that long telomeres might not be such a great thing at all.