I assume that this is far from unique to humans, but not quite universal. I wonder whether the &quot;immortal jellyfish&quot; turritopsis dohrnii has some telomere rebuilding mechanism for all cells that provide its age-defying abilities.<p>I also wonder whether there is a second advantage to telomere depletion; reducing the instances of organisms from different generations carrying the same genes competing for resources. After all, we&#x27;re here for the benefit of our genes, not the other way round.