I’ve always heard that if you want to know how tall a child will be, you should look at their parents. I think that a lot of people have held the belief that height, or lack thereof, runs in families. A new study reveals insight into the genetics that are involved with height.
I am just barely over five feet tall, (five feet, three inches, to be exact). My mother and sister are both about my height, give or take an inch or two. My grandmothers were both short as well. On the other hand, a good friend of mine is very tall, and so is her mother, and her aunt. It is easy to see where people got the idea that being tall, or being short, runs in a person’s family tree. It has taken science this long to finally find evidence of what many people have suspected for generations. If your parents were tall, you were going to be tall. If your parents were short, then you would be short as well.
Unlike many other genetically heritable traits, it is impossible to hide how tall you happen to be. Children can be cruel, and will pick on other kids for any reason. It’s not easy to be the shortest boy in the school, or the tallest girl in the classroom. As a short adult, I can attest that it isn’t easy to try and teach a classroom full of students who tower over you.
A new study that was published in the American Journal of Human Genetics has identified some previously unknown genetic variants that determine a person’s height. A genetic analysis was done on more than 100,000 individuals.
Within this large sample size, researchers looked for the inclusion of uncommon single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). They found 64 variants that were associated with height. A smaller sample size would not have enabled researchers to find what they were looking for. In short, there do seem to be some genetic variables that play a part in determining the adult height of an individual. The more of these variants that you inherit from your parents, the taller you are likely to be. However, the genetics involved with height are not entirely understood as of yet. Perhaps there are environmental factors to consider as well.
One interesting thing about this study is that the scientists were looking at low-frequency variants in relation to causation of a specific, easily observed, trait. This could mean that looking at low-frequency genetic variants that seem to be involved with other diseases could, potentially, reveal more about what causes that particular disease.
One thing is for certain, though. Science has not found a way to change the height you were born with to the height you would prefer to be. At least, not yet.
Image by Moggs Oceanlane on Flickr