TERC and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: Past genetic studies in familial and sporadic IPF patients have characterized that the surfactant-associated genes (surfactant protein C, SFTPC; surfactant protein A2, SFTPA2; and ATP binding cassette member A3, ABCA3) [10, 11] and the telomerase-related genes (telomerase reverse transcriptase, TERT; telomerase RNA component, TERC; and regulator of telomere elongation helicase 1, RTEL1) [12] are associated with IPF susceptibility.