TERC and coronary artery disorder: Multiple studies have confirmed the association of short leukocyte telomere length and the incidence of CHD in humans.64 Mendelian randomization studies in >200 000 participants have also suggested that a genetic reduction of telomere length (via mutations in TERT or TERC genes) leads to an increased risk of CHD.65 Although in our animal studies absence of telomerase had no effect on Treg maintenance, it is important to point out that because of the long telomeres in laboratory mouse strains, this may not reflect the human biology of telomeres.