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    Home > Biochemistry News > Biotechnology News > Feat—New study of 5 million people reveals a link between genes and height

    Feat—New study of 5 million people reveals a link between genes and height

    • Last Update: 2023-01-05
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    The results of this study may help doctors identify patients who are unable to grow to the height they would expect, which in turn may help identify undiagnosed diseases or conditions
    that may hinder their normal growth or negatively affect their health.

    This study is the largest genome-wide association study
    ever conducted.

    The study, recently published in the journal Nature, is the largest genome-wide association study conducted to date, using DNA
    from nearly 5 million people from 281 contributing studies.
    It fills a significant gap
    in our knowledge of how genetic differences lead to height differences.
    More than 1 million study participants were of non-European descent (African, East Asian, Spanish or South Asian).

    The 12,111 variants clustered in genomic regions involved in bone growth provide a powerful genetic predictor
    of height.
    Identified variants account for 40% of height variance for people of European ancestry and 10-20%
    for people of non-European ancestry.

    Adult height is largely determined by information encoded by DNA; Children of tall parents may be taller, while children of shorter parents tend to be shorter, although these estimates are not perfect
    .
    The process of growing from a young infant to an adult, and the role of genes in this process, has always been a complex and little-known aspect
    of human biology.
    The largest previous genomic height association study had a sample size of 700,000 people; The current sample is about 7 times
    larger than earlier studies.

    The study, conducted on an unprecedented scale, provides a new level of biological detail and sheds light on why individuals are tall or short, genetically linked
    to a variety of specific genomic regions.
    The results showed that the region that made up just over 20 percent of the genome contained most of the height-related genetic variants
    .

    The study's findings could help doctors identify people who can't reach their genetically predicted height, which could help diagnose hidden diseases or conditions
    that could stunt their growth or affect their health.
    The study also provides a valuable blueprint for how genome-wide studies may be used to determine the biology of a disease and, by extension, its genetic component
    .

    More genomic diversity is needed

    While the study's participants were heavily from non-European ancestry compared to previous studies, the researchers stress that genomic research requires more diversity
    .
    Most of the genetic data available comes from people of European ancestry, so genome-wide studies cannot capture the diversity
    of ancestors on a global scale.
    Increasing the size of genome-wide studies in populations of non-European ancestry is essential
    to achieve the same saturation level and close gaps in prediction accuracy between different populations.

    Dr Eirini Marouli, co-first author of the study and a senior lecturer in computational biology at Queen Mary University of London, said: "We have accomplished the feat of studying the DNA of more than 5 million people in a way that was widely considered impossible
    not so long ago.
    "

    She continued: "Genomic research is revolutionary and could be the key to solving many global health challenges – and their potential is very exciting
    .
    If we can have a clear understanding of traits such as height at the genomic level, then we have a model that can better diagnose and treat genetically affected diseases
    such as heart disease or schizophrenia.
    If we can map specific parts of the genome onto certain features, it opens the door to broad, targeted, personalized treatments in the future that will benefit people
    around the world.
    " ”

    Reference: A saturated map of common genetic variants associated with human height



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