Telomeres are protective structures at the ends of chromosomes. They consist of tandem repeats of a DNA sequence, which in all vertebrates is TTAGGG, bound by a six-protein complex known as shelterin that exerts the protective function. Telomeres shorten every time a cell divides, and when they become critically short, this induces a persistent DNA damage response (DDR) at chromosome ends which can jeopardize cell viability. In the context of the organism, telomeres shorten a