For each subject, a detailed medical history, physical examination, and blood sample collection were performed as previously described (23, 32, 34). The presence of hypertension, the metabolic syndrome, and diabetes was determined using National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP), Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) criteria (46). Scores on the MMSE (47) 25 were considered to indicate impaired cognitive function. Triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol (LDL), and HDL-cholesterol (HThe observed numbers of each genotype, as compared to those expected under Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, were tested using 2 tests for each of the three groups: centenarians, their offspring, and controls. Samani J et al. investigated atherosclerosis in Lancet. Von Zglinicki T et al. studied short telomeres in patients with vascular dementia and their association with low antioxidative capacity and possible risk factors in Lab Invest. Govindaraju DR et al. researched the genetics of the Framingham Heart Study in Adv Genet. Ng PC and Henikoff S developed SIFT, a method to predict amino acid changes affecting function, in Nucleic Acids Res. Sunyaev S et al. predicted deleterious human alleles in Hum Mol Genet. Atzmon G et al. discovered that plasma HDL levels highly correlate with cognitive function and exceptional longevity in J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. Barzilai N et al. identified a unique lipoprotein phenotype and genotype associated with exceptional longevity in J Am Med Assoc. Artandi SE explored telomeres, telomerase, and human disease in N Engl J Med. Verma S and Slutsky AS provided new insights into idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in N Engl J Med. Perls TT et al. validated reported centenarian prevalence in New England in Age Ageing. Tsakiri KD et al. found that adult-onset pulmonary fibrosis is caused by mutations in telomerase in Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. Kimchi-Sarfaty C et al. discovered a silent polymorphism in the MDR gene substrate specificity that affects function in Science. Qu HQ et al. found evidence for functional effects of synonymous polymorphisms and strand bias complementary single-nucleotide polymorphisms of transcribed human genes in BMC Genomics. Ducrest AL et al. studied the regulation of the telomerase reverse transcriptase gene in Oncogene. Ornish D et al. found increased telomerase activity and comprehensive changes in a pilot study in Lancet Oncol. Matsubara Y et al. investigated the effect of functional polymorphism of ERT on telomere length of normal leukocytes in Biochem Biophys Res Commun. Mushiroda T et al. identified an association of a common variant in TERT with susceptibility to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in J Med Genet. Lancaster JM et al. discussed the genetic link between BRCA1 and BRCA2 and breast and ovarian cancer in Medscape Womens Health. The Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults provided an executive summary of the Third Report of the National Education Program (NCEP) on detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood cholesterol in adults (Adult Treatment Panel III) in J Am Med Assoc. Folstein MF, Folstein SE, and McHugh PR developed the Mini-Mental State as a practical tool. Cawthon RM described telomere measurement by quantitative PCR in Nucleic Acids Res. Vijg J and Suh Y discussed aging and longevity in Molecular Diagnostics, edited by Patrinos GP and Ansorge W (Amsterdam). Stephens M and Donnelly P compared Bayesian methods for reconstruction from population genotype data in Am J Hum Genet. De Lange T researched shelterin, the protein complex that shapes and safeguards human telomeres, in Genes Dev. Wong JM and Collins K explored telomere maintenance and disease in Lancet. Campisi J and d'Adda di Fagagna F investigated cellular senescence: when bad things happen to good cells in Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. Finch CE discussed the biology of aging (Academic Press, Burlington, MA). Njajou OT et al. found that telomere length is paternally inherited and associated with parental lifespan in Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. Benetos A et al. found that telomere length is an indicator of biological aging, with gender effects and relation to pulse pressure and pulse wave velocity in Hypertension. Lindsey J et al. observed loss of telomeric repeats with age in humans in Mutat Res. Nawrot TS et al. found a possible link between telomere length and the X chromosome in Lancet. Slagboom PE et al. studied the genetic determination of telomere size in humans in a twin study of three age groups in Am J Hum Genet. Aviv A discussed telomeres and human somatic fitness in J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. Von Zglinicki T and Martin-Ruiz CM explored telomeres as biomarkers for aging and age-related diseases in Curr Mol Med. Cawthon RM et al. found an association between telomere length in blood and mortality in people aged 60 years or older in Lancet. Bischoff C et