Over the next twenty years, the financial burden on the U.S. government to provide quality healthcare to its aging population is expected to rise to $4.2 trillion (U.S. Centers, 2006). One way the U.S. government could reduce the financial impact of this aging demographic is through funding research into the causes of aging such as telomeres. This work presents a method for calculating lifespan based on the rate of telomere shortening. By applying the Hayflick limit, it was possible to calculate the lifespan of an unknown organism by dividing the Hayflick limit (raised to the exponent of 250) with the square of the genomic library of a human. Then multiplying this number with the maximum lifespan (in seconds) of a human: thereby giving the rate of telomere shortening. To calculate the lifespan of an unknown organism it is first necessary to find the exponential Hayflick limit of that organism, and then divide it by the rate of telomere shortening: resulting in the predicted lifespan of the unknown organism. When applied to various organisms, such as a mouse, it was erroneous; however, further adjustments to the method corrected this mistake. Thus, the assumptions behind this method, according to the data, were essentially correct, and demonstrated a profound link between lifespan and the molecular timing mechanism that govern it. Applying this method for calculating lifespan and the rate of telomere shortening could lead to early detection of cancer, as well as the development of anti-aging drugs to extend lifespan.