Blackburn: Every sign, including genetics, says there's some causality [between telomeres] and the nasty things that happen with aging,
the really nasty diseases that kill us — heart disease, diabetes, cancer, even Alzheimer's.
The Special Pathogens Branch, part of The Division of Viral and Rickettsial
Diseases, deals with some of the
really nasty stuff -
diseases like Ebola, Rift Valley fever, and Lassa fever (and before you ask, a Rickettsial
disease is one caused by any Rickettsia bacteria, which are carried by parasites such as ticks, fleas and lice, and cause
diseases such as typhus).