Abnormal telomere morphology Short telomere length 2017-09-04T17:14:08Z Telomeres are made of repeating TTAGGG/AATCCC units. The overall length of the telomere is over 10 kb at birth and progressively declines with age. An abnormal reduction in telomere length. Telomeres are non-coding, repetitive sequences of DNA at the ends of the chromosomes of eukaryotic cells which become shorter as cells divide, and when telomere attrition reaches its limit, cell proliferation arrest, senescence, and apoptosis can occur.