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  <front>
    <journal-meta>
      <journal-id>authorea</journal-id>
      <publisher>
        <publisher-name>Authorea</publisher-name>
      </publisher>
    </journal-meta>
    <article-meta>
      <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.15200/winn.143357.76071</article-id>
      <title-group>
        <article-title>The reanalysis of three large datasets uncovers progressive telomere
erosion between healthy human generations and supports an 11-year-old
model of telomere-driven macroevolution</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <contrib-group>
        <contrib contrib-type="author" corresp="yes">
          <name>
            <surname>M.D.</surname>
            <given-names>Reinhard Stindl,</given-names>
          </name>
          <address>
            <institution>Alpharm GesmbH, apo-med-center, Plättenstr. 7-9, 2380 Perchtoldsdorf, Austria, web: www.telomere.at</institution>
          </address>
        </contrib>
      </contrib-group>
      <pub-date date-type="preprint" publication-format="electronic">
        <day>17</day>
        <month>4</month>
        <year>2023</year>
      </pub-date>
      <self-uri xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.15200/winn.143357.76071">This preprint is available at https://doi.org/10.15200/winn.143357.76071</self-uri>
      <abstract abstract-type="abstract">
        <p>Upon re-examination of large telomere datasets from healthy human
populations, a downward secular trend in telomere length at birth was
found. The authors theorized that relatively recent environmental
stresses to female germ cells could have driven the observed
intergenerational telomere erosion; otherwise, these trends would have
pushed populations into pathological telomere length ranges within a few
centuries. Strangely, the authors decided to disregard an 11-year-old
theory of telomere-driven macroevolution that is based on progressive
intergenerational telomere loss as the driving force behind species
extinction and speciation. Additionally, Holohan and colleagues
introduced a “new” interpretation of the
old-father-long-telomered-offspring effect, namely as a consequence of
intergenerational telomere erosion in the female lineage. Yet, an
identical theoretical model has been published twice, several years
before. To distinguish between a temporary trend caused by environmental
pollution and a general evolutionary mechanism of intergenerational
telomere erosion, we urgently need telomere length data from
multigenerational studies on mammals with a short generation-time.</p>
      </abstract>
      <kwd-group kwd-group-type="author-created">
        <kwd>birth cohort effect</kwd>
        <kwd>intergenerational telomere erosion</kwd>
        <kwd>macroevolution</kwd>
        <kwd>species extinction</kwd>
        <kwd>telomeres</kwd>
      </kwd-group>
    </article-meta>
  </front>
</article>
