Scientists identify 83 new DNA changes that affect human height

New Delhi: In a latest, yet the deepest search to date, an international team of researchers has identified 83 new DNA changes that strongly affect human height.

The international Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) Consortium said that the newly identified genetic variants can also help predict a person's risk of developing certain growth disorders.

Although these changes are rare, they have potent effects, with some of them adjusting height by more than 2 cm (almost 8/10 of an inch) - over 10 times the average effect of previously discovered gene variants.

"Of these 83 genetic variations, some influence adult height by more than 2 cm, which is enormous," said Guillaume Lettre, Professor at Montreal Heart Institute in Canada.

The genes affected by these genetic variations modulate, among other things, bone and cartilage development and growth hormone production and activation.

Hundreds of DNA changes that influence height have already been identified, but these common DNA changes often influence height by less than 1 millimetre (mm).

"There is also hope that we may one day be able to use this knowledge to develop a precision medicine approach for dealing with growth disorders," added Panos Deloukas Professor at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).

The variants also influence height by affecting the availability of growth factors in the blood, the researchers suggested.

In addition to that, the researchers also identified several genes that may represent good therapeutic targets for growth problems often observed in children.

"The STC2 protein serves as a brake on human height, validating it as a potential drug target for short stature," explained Joel Hirschhorn from the Broad Institute in Massachusetts, US.

Height is mostly determined by the information encoded in the human DNA - children from tall parents tend to be taller and those from short parents are shorter.

For the study, the team measured the presence of 250,000 genetic variations in the 700,000 participants.

The new findings were published online by Nature on February 1.

(With IANS inputs)