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SUMMARY:Is telomere length a useful biomarker in ecology and evolution? - 
 Dan Nussey\, University of Edinburgh
DTSTART:20211102T130000Z
DTEND:20211102T140000Z
UID:TALK162394@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Emily Mitchell
DESCRIPTION:Telomeres are repetitive stretches of DNA that cap the ends of
  chromosomes in most eukaryotes and play a vital role in genomic maintenan
 ce and cell function. Telomeres shorten with each cell division and under 
 cellular stress\, and critically short telomeres trigger cellular senescen
 ce. There has been growing interest across diverse disciplines recently in
  the use of average measures of telomere length (TL) across a sample of ce
 lls (usually blood cells) as a biomarker of ageing and health. Evolutionar
 y ecologists working in the laboratory and field have now measured blood c
 ell TL in a remarkable range of vertebrate species and ecological settings
 . This work has led to TL being put forward as a useful indicator of biolo
 gical ageing\, physiological state\, past environmental stress\, and the p
 hysiological costs of investment in life history traits across vertebrates
 . In this talk\, I will provide an overview of the evidence from recent me
 ta-analyses of ecological and evolutionary studies to support these claims
 . I will then discuss recent work by my group to investigate the role of g
 enes\, environment and past life history in driving variation in TL in a w
 ild Soay sheep population on St Kilda. Our work in Soay sheep suggests tha
 t TL does have a genetic basis and predicts lifespan\, but does not suppor
 t the idea that TL is an indicator of biological ageing or reflects costs 
 of recent reproduction.
LOCATION:Large Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology but also online (as
 k organizers for link).
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