The following is an edited excerpt.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have identified a biological marker in the immune system that – beginning at about age 22 – predicts our ability to fight off the common cold.
Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study found that the length of telomeres – protective cap-like protein complexes at the ends of chromosomes – predicts resistance to upper respiratory infections in young and midlife adults.
Read the full press release here: Carnegie Mellon Researchers Identify Biological Marker That Predicts Susceptibility to the Common Cold