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Scientists from a number of leading institutions around the world believe they have finally found the gene which is responsible for height in humans. Although it has long been known that height is down to genetics, it is only now that any particular gene has been isolated. Indeed a study has shown that those people with two copies of the “tall” version of the HMGA2 gene are up to 1cm taller than those who carry their “short” counterparts. Researchers believe that such results will help them in their mission to discover the links between height and disease.

The study was carried out by an international team from Harvard University, the Children’s Hospital Boston, Oxford University and the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter. The scientists analysed the genomes of 5,000 white European patients who had submitted DNA samples and essential information such as height and weight, and found that just a small change in the HMGA2 gene impacted the height of the patients. The results of the study, which are published in the journal Nature Genetics, are a breakthrough in finding the biological basis of height and will make it possible to discover even more genes that control it.

Interestingly, around 25% of white Europeans carry two copies of the “tall” version whilst a similar number carry copies of the “short” version. As researcher Dr Tim Frayling, of the Peninsula Medical School, explains:

“Height is a typical ‘polygenic’ trait, in other words many genes contribute towards making us taller or shorter. Clearly, our results do not explain why one person will be 6ft 5in (192 cms) and another only 4ft 10in (145cms). This is just the first of many that will be found, possibly as many as several hundred.”

The results are important because they may eventually explain the correlations between height and risk of disease. Statistically, taller people are at a greater risk from lung, bladder and prostate cancer whilst shorter people are more likely to suffer from heart disease. Perhaps when we have isolated the genes which are in charge of height, we will also be able to advance our knowledge of such killer diseases. As Professor Joel Hirschhorn, an expert in genetics at Harvard, says:

“Because height is a complex trait, involving a variety of genetic and non-genetic factors, it can teach us valuable lessons about the genetic framework of other complex traits, such as diabetes, cancer and other common human diseases.”

Maybe right now we can’t know of any special link between height and disease, or why people vary in heights so much, but this study shows that future research into the field is very promising.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 at 2:15 am and is filed under Uncategorized, Science, Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.