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may affect telomere length and longevity more than the genetic back- ground in populations (such as the Italian population), where a great so- cial and economic variability is present (De Rango et al., 2011). In certain restricted groups (such as Ashkenazi Jews from New York Atzmon et al., 2010), where environmental variability is lower, the genetic variation of telomerase may have a greater impact on aging and longevity. Further studies using larger sample size and detailed environmental variables (e.g. smoking, working and educational status) are warranted to clearly address the genetic contribution of TERT polymorphisms in determining LTL and human longevity. In particular, it should be noted that the signif- icanceofourdataonMNS16Agenotypeandallelefrequencieswouldnot survive to a multiple comparison correction if applied. This fact, together with the lack of association of LTL across MNS16A genotypes (within age classes), further highlights the need for a replication study using another population and a bigger sample size.

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