Chasing telomeres, not red herrings, in evolutionary ecology

Like a burning fuse, telomere shortening can trigger cellular senescence and is implicated in accelerated ageing (von Zglinicki, 2002). Consequently, the role of telomeres is a hot topic in studies of longevity and lifehistory traits (Monaghan, 2010). In their recent critical review, Horn et al. (2010) caution that this enthusiasm has led to a lack of rigour, particularly in the application of a quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) technique to measure relative telomere length (RTL) (Cawthon, 2002). We agree that researchers eager to leap into telomere biology should fully comprehend the potential methodological pitfalls of RTL. Horn et al. overstate the problems, however, and give the mistaken impression that these are insurmountable. Unfortunately, their critique only further muddies the waters. Here, we seek to rectify some of their misconceptions.We also highlight the existing resources available to maximise resolution in studies using qPCR to estimate RTLs and provide positive guidelines for their implementation.