A poem in Annals of Internal Medicine turns telomeres into a metaphor for cell aging

EricTopol · x · 2026-07-21

A poem shared by Eric Topol, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, reflects on cell aging through the lens of telomeres.

The piece frames every cell division as a loss of time and describes telomeres as a clock inside the cell, with oxidative stress, telomerase, and imperfect repair shaping how tissues age. It ends by tying the molecular scale to patient care: lifestyle can help, but medicine can only listen and partially repair.

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