*Updates*

REFER A FRIEND, GET $10 BACK!

When you refer a new supporter to our campaign (using your unique referral code located under our video), we'll put $10 back in your pocket!  Two referrals, $20 back.  Four friends sign up?  $40 coming back your way.  We're looking forward to giving it back to you in thanks for your helping us spread the word!

Press Coverage

We've been thrilled by features in the media about us and what we're doing.  Thank you for helping us spread the word!

"People who age prematurely could soon benefit from rejuvenation therapies." io9, March 29, 2013.

"Advances in Telomere Research and Testing." Transhumanity.net, March 24, 2013.

"Crowdfunding for Telomere Testing." GenomeWeb, March 21, 2013

"TeloMe Turns to Crowdfunding to Promote Telomere Testing." Xconomy, March 19, 2013

 The New Healthy Living

We're in the first years of the personal genomics revolution, and it's time to rethink the meaning of healthy living. Occasional checkups and standard lab tests provide information about a few possible issues and risks, but leave us guessing and hoping about most risks to our health. We now leave to chance risks for a wide range of health problems, including cancers, heart disease, stroke, and common infections like the common cold. This seriously undermines prevention and early detection--two of the most effective strategies for dealing with any health problem. Your health is too important to leave to chance.

Over the past decade telomere testing has emerged as potentially the most meaningful information about both current and long-term overall health; and, similar to a cholesterol test, there are multiple proven ways to reduce the risks revealed by the test. Well over one-hundred thousand telomere tests, resulting in hundreds of scientific publications, have underscored the essential role of telomeres to good health. However, current technologies have many limitations and have provided contradictory results. TeloMe has developed new technologies for improved analysis of telomeres. Now, it's your turn to know--to participate and discover the meaning of your telomeres.

The scientific founders of TeloMe, Dr. Preston Estep and Harvard Medical School Professor of Genetics George Church are leaders in molecular technologies, personal genomics, and of the Personal Genome Project. One of their primary goals is to bring meaningful, affordable and actionable genomic information to everyone. TeloMe's telomere testing is a key step toward that goal.

The What and Why of Telomeres

Telomeres are the protective pieces of DNA on the ends of our chromosomes. They've been compared to the caps on the ends of shoelaces. They've also been compared to clocks inside our cells because they tick down, or shorten over time and exposure to various stresses. As they wind down, so do our cells. Short telomeres are associated with higher risk of a wide range of failing health, and older people aren't the only ones at risk. A recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (and widely reported in the media) showed that short telomeres even signal susceptibility to and severity of the common cold--even in people as early as their twenties. Growing evidence also shows that telomeres that are either too short (or even too long) aren't only a marker of illness, but also play a causal role in declining health.

Importantly, however, the ticking of the telomere clock isn't fixed, and lots of evidence suggests that it can be slowed or even reversed. Lifestyle, diet, exercise, stress-levels, environment and genetics can all play a role in the rate at which a person's telomeres shorten. However, without actually measuring, you don't know the current length of your telomeres, or what course of action might be most appropriate and beneficial. 

Affordable Testing to Take You Beyond Guesswork

TeloMe now offers affordable and accurate telomere analysis to everyone.

Our mission is to end the era of guessing about long-term health and to bring affordable testing to everyone. For maximum affordability and accessibility we have focused on saliva-based testing, and sample collection by mail and courier. TeloMe has worked with the Personal Genome Project at Harvard Medical School for the past two years to establish a nationwide saliva-collection pipeline throughout the U.S. Over that time TeloMe has developed proprietary telomere analysis technologies that are accurate, accessible, and affordable. Our experience in many relevant areas of technology development has allowed us to bring to everyone the long-term advantages of telomere testing.

Answers for a Lifetime

We offer several tests and services:

• $49 - Saliva Banking
  • We'll send you a collection kit (see below) and archive your saliva in our facilities for you to access and test later on.
• $49 - Support Open Research
  • Cover half the cost of one standard TeloMe test for the Personal Genome Project (PGP).  We'll cover the other half, and help expand our understanding of telomeres and their relationships to our genes, our environments and our health.
• $89 - Earlybird Discount!
  • Limit 100!  Be one of the first supporters of our campaign and get a discount on your telomere test. This is the same test as the basic test, just discounted for early birds.
• $99 - Saliva-Based Telomere Test
  • Our basic saliva-based telomere analysis will help you move your health in the right direction without the guesswork.  We'll mail you a saliva collection kit (see below), analyze your samples, and send you a report with your current telomere length.  We'll also allow you to anonymously compare your results with others so that we can help each other build a new, more powerful meaning to healthy living.
• $139 - Give One, Get One
  • Pledge to support the Personal Genome Project (PGP) by covering half of the cost of one standard TeloMe test for the PGP's data set and get one for yourself at a discounted rate!
    
• $189 - Two Test Discount
  • Two for you, or give one to a friend!  Telomeres change over time, so getting tested more than once allows you to know how you well you are doing over time.
• $269 - Three Test Discount
  • Need we say more?
• $429 - Five Test Discount
  • Expand your understanding by expanding your dataset.  You'll get five tests to use over time or share.
• $499 - Complete Telomere Analysis. PRICE REDUCED TO $299!
  • Our $99 test allows you to determine the average length of your telomeres and compare them to others in our database, but with our premium analysis, you'll get a report on the length distribution of your telomeres, and you'll discover the proportion of short telomeres. As with the standard test, you'll be able to compare the distribution of your telomeres with others who opt for complete analysis. Those who paid $499 for the premium test will get a refund for the difference and those who wish to upgrade from the basic test will be able to for an additional $200.
• $799 - 10 Test Discount
  • Get 10 TeloMe tests at a discount to use over time or share with friends and family

Take Control

Get results that help you chart a course for a long and healthy life 

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to long health and long life. The more you know about your telomeres, the more you'll be able to take control. Once we've tested your telomeres, we'll return a report to you that includes the length of your telomeres, and allow you to anonymously compare your results with others in our database. One feature of the report is a graph of how you compare to people of your own age, and across the entire TeloMe community (a sample graph is shown below). Reporting of such details allows you to play an essential role in this research project.

We are building a community with the shared goals of good health and long life, and the foundation of those efforts begins with more and better information. Join us and work together to end the era of guessing about health.

No Need for Needles

Our testing kit is sent directly to you through the mail, and includes everything you need.  Our telomere analysis is saliva-based, so there's no need for blood or needles.  

We include two saliva collection tubes, a funnel for clean and easy collection, easy-to-read instructions, and a pre-paid return envelope to send us your samples.  Spit, seal and send it back!

FAQs

Here are some answers to frequently asked questions

Q: What are telomeres?

• Telomeres are protective pieces of DNA located on the ends of our chromosomes. In this function they have been compared to the protective plastic bits on the ends of shoelaces. They’ve also been compared to clocks inside our cells. As our cells divide and after exposure to many different kinds of stresses, the telomere clock ticks down, becoming shorter and shorter. In much more detail, telomeres consist of a short sequence of DNA that is repeated over and over to make up a very long chain of repeats. Loss of these repeats is how the telomere clock ticks down, and addition of repeats reverses this process.

Q: Are the telomere tests offered by TeloMe clinical or diagnostic tests?

• The telomere tests offered by TeloMe do not provide clinical results or diagnoses of diseases. They are for personal informational and research purposes only, with you and other testers as part of the research team. Existing telomere analysis technologies have revealed some very provocative findings regarding the association between telomere length and risks of diseases. However, some studies using these same technologies have shown no association and the limitations of these existing technologies are widely acknowledged. TeloMe has developed proprietery telomere analysis technologies, and we are in the process of applying these technologies widely to generate better data in order to discover the specific impacts of telomere lengths on overall health and risks of various diseases.

Q: Is saliva as good as blood for testing telomeres? What is the source of DNA in saliva?

• Yes! Saliva is generally equivalent to blood. In fact, DNA in saliva is actually derived from blood! In a surprising and serendipitous discovery scientists recently found that people who have received bone marrow transplants bear the genes of the donor in both their blood and their saliva, but not in other cells! The one complication in using saliva to measure telomeres is that saliva contains DNA from bacteria and other microbes. Our suite of collection, processing, and analysis technologies enable us to collect samples by mail and courier, then extract and test purified DNA directly from saliva, without interference from microbial DNA--and without needles!

Q: What is the role of telomeres in aging? Are short telomeres only a marker of ill health and debility, or are they an underlying cause?

• As mentioned above, telomeres have been compared to clocks inside our cells, and over time these initially long stretches of DNA shorten. This shortening, or ticking of the telomere clock, is only one of a few known aging clocks. Many research studies on dysfunctional genes involved in telomere maintenance show that short telomeres alone cause disease and debility. Compelling experiments in mice and other experimental organisms also show that telomeres are one cause of age-related disease and debility. One of the most convincing demonstrations of the role telomeres can play in aging involved mice engineered to have a switch for turning off and on a key telomere maintenance gene (telomerase), resulting in shortening or lengthening of telomeres. When the gene was turned off, the mice aged rapidly. In every way they were old and decrepit, even at a young age. Then, telomeres were lengthened in those mice and they were rejuvenated. They appeared and behaved young again. This dramatic demonstration shows that short telomeres can and do produce symptoms of old age, even in the absence of the ticking down of any other aging clock. For more insight into this study, see The Scientist magazine’s interview about it with TeloMe CEO and Chief Scientific Officer Preston Estep.

Q: Is there anything I can do to slow or reverse the shortening of my telomeres?

• There are many things that slow telomere shortening, and initial scientific studies report that there are also ways to reverse this process, to actually lengthen telomeres. First, let’s address slowing the process. Many things regulate telomere the rate of telomere shortening, including certain dietary factors, sleep, stress, and exercise. Here is a list of a few that have been shown to slow telomere shortening:
  • Exercise
  • Healthful diet
  • Omega-3 fats
  • Stress reduction
  • Sleep
• However, everyone is different and we don’t currently know what levels of these different factors are right for you. This is the most important reason to test your telomeres and share certain information with the TeloMe community. Following our Indiegogo campaign, and as we begin to compile and analyze the resulting data, we will implement information sharing on the TeloMe website.
• Now, on to lengthening. One of the most intriguing areas of telomere technology is the effort to lengthen telomeres. In mice, a low-calorie diet has been shown to slow and even lengthen telomeres, but this effect hasn't been verified in people. Over the past two decades a company isolated from plants and tested a family of compounds that possess telomere lengthening activity. The primary active compound is called cycloastragenol, and the family of plants that produce it is called Astragalus, a species used in traditional Chinese medicine. Astragalus extract has been tested in people in pre-clinical studies, and results show telomere lengthening. Bear in mind that TeloMe does not advocate use of these or any methods to alter telomere length.

Q: Why should I get my telomeres tested? What can a telomere test tell me?  How can it help me?

• Telomeres that are either excessively short or long are associated with substantially increased risk for many diseases, ranging from mild to deadly, including cancers and heart disease. One report in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that short telomeres reveal risk of even the common cold, and elevated risk was seen in both older people and in people as young as their twenties. Telomere testing can help you to know the length of your telomeres, and take measures appropriate for you to ensure good long-term health.

Q: Do you ship outside the U.S.?

• Yes! Indiegogo accepts payment from 196 countries, and if they accept payment, we will ship you a kit. There is an additional $15 shipping charge for international (non-US) orders. If we cannot ship to your country, we will give you a full refund.

Q: Can I get someone else’s telomeres tested? Can I get my child or dependent's telomeres tested?

• At this point, we are only offering personal telomere testing to those who consent to test themselves. If you have a child or dependent you’d like to have tested as part of a research plan into a disease or disability, please contact us at info@telome.com

Q: Can I get my pet’s telomeres tested?

• Actually, yes! We can test the telomeres of your dog, cat, horse, or whatever, but we need a minimum amount of DNA (about a half teaspoon of saliva) and we can’t guarantee meaningful results.

Learn More

Read up on telomeres and why they matter:

• Our "Telomere News" page:
  http://www.telome.com/news.php
  
• The Scientist interview with TeloMe co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Preston Estep:
  http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/art...
• Press report on the link between the common cold and short telomeres, even in young people: http://scitechdaily.com/length-of-telomeres-pre...
• Original report on the link between the common cold and short telomeres: Association Between Telomere Length and Experimentally Induced Upper Respiratory Viral Infection in Healthy Adults - Journal of the American Medical Association
  http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articl...

 Contact Us

Keep up with TeloMe on our website, Facebook, Twitter and Google+, or send us an email anytime!

We're always happy to answer questions and talk about why we love what we do and why we think you will too.

Other Ways You Can Help

Please help us spread the word about TeloMe's tests for smarter health by sharing this campaign with friends and family.  Let's make the most of our data, together.

Disclaimer

The information presented on this site is not medical advice, and should not be construed as a substitute for medical care or clinical testing. Any content or services offered by TeloMe are not intended to constitute, or substitute for, the practice of medicine, or a clinical or healthcare diagnosis.