How the Land Around You is Used May Affect Your DNA’s “Protective Caps”

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 11, 2022) - How the land around you is used may impact your health, according to research from Empire Innovation Associate Professor Kai Zhang in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences.

Zhang recently studied the built environment and its relationship to telomere length in Mexican Americans living in Houston, Texas. Telomeres are the protective pieces found at the ends of DNA that shorten when cells divide. Their length is determined by genetics, behavior, and environmental factors—and is often examined in relation to risk for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic diseases. Studies have also shown that telomere length is linked to hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. Since it is well known that the landscape around us can impact our health, Zhang’s work aimed to learn more about how land use may be tied to telomere length.

The research team, which included researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Texas, and Zhang from UAlbany, looked at the make-up of the land (residential, commercial, industrial, underdeveloped, farmland, and more), how easily the land allowed for physical activity, and the number of healthy and less healthy food stores in the area. Telomere length was determined for 5,508 Mexican American participants enrolled who were over 20 years old and did not have cancer, diabetes, or any cardiovascular disease when they signed up to participate.

Results showed that higher variation in land use was associated with longer telomere length, with the association strongest for people under 38 years old, women, participants with obesity, those with low levels of physical activity, and those who were born in Mexico. This means that those who were around more varied land had longer “protective caps” on their DNA.

“An area that is mixed in its use generally supports walking when compared to an area that is dominated by a particular land use,” explains Zhang. “Our study results support this idea—increased land use mixture may promote physical activity, enhance the immune system, and decrease telomere length shortening.”

Trends in urban planning patterns have worked to keep residential, commercial, and recreational areas separate in an effort to protect community health; however, this low-mix land use is less supportive of physical activity, healthy eating, and sustainable living—all factors that help to improve health.

“The biological evidence from our work shows that continuing building the beneficial built environment features (access to physical activities facilities, parks and healthy food environment) is critical for healthy cities and healthy populations,” says Zhang. “We must work to create a favorable built environment that helps to slow down biological aging and ultimately improve overall health.”

The full report from the research team can be found in Scientific Reports.