Although it was initially thought that fibrillin-1 promoted elastogenesis (i.e. the de novo formation of elastic fibers), early mouse models of Marfan syndrome suggested that disrupted fibrillin-1 affects the structural stability of the elastic fibers [216], reducing their otherwise long half-life (which is estimated at 50+ years for normal elastic fibers). The gene discussed is FBN1; the disease is Marfan syndrome.