Getting Started

Developer SDK for telomere analysis, aging biomarkers, and genomic sequence processing.

v2.4.1 Python 3.10+ MIT License

Quick Start

bash 
$ pip install telomere-sdk
$ telomere init --species human
$ telomere analyze --input sample.fasta

The telomere SDK provides a comprehensive toolkit for measuring telomere length from whole-genome sequencing data, simulating telomere attrition models, and integrating with major bioinformatics pipelines (BWA, GATK, samtools).

API Reference

GET /api/v2/measure

Measure telomere length from a FASTA sequence. Returns estimated base-pair length and confidence interval.

sequence string required
method enum TRF | qPCR | STELA
POST /api/v2/simulate

Run a telomere attrition simulation over N cell divisions. Returns degradation curve data.

initial_length int required
divisions int default: 50

Telomere Biology

Telomeres are repetitive nucleotide sequences (TTAGGG in vertebrates) at the ends of chromosomes that protect against degradation during DNA replication. With each cell division, telomeres shorten by 50-200 base pairs due to the end-replication problem.

Birth (~15,000 bp)
Age 35 (~10,000 bp)
Age 65 (~7,000 bp)
Senescence (~5,000 bp)

When telomeres reach a critically short length (the Hayflick limit), cells enter a state of senescence or apoptosis. The enzyme telomerase can extend telomeres, but its activity is typically repressed in somatic cells. Understanding and measuring telomere dynamics is central to aging research.

Installation

pip 
pip install telomere-sdk
conda 
conda install -c bioconda telomere-sdk

Requirements

  • Python 3.10 or later
  • NumPy >= 1.24
  • BioPython >= 1.81
  • samtools (optional, for BAM input)