Genes that make people tall or short identified

An international team of scientists has found that a seemingly simple inherited trait, height, springs from hundreds of genetic causes.

The study identified hundreds of gene variants in at least 180 locations that influence adult height, an observable trait.

Robert Kaplan, professor of epidemiology and population health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, supplied the data for one of roughly 50 groups involved.

Scientists identified common gene variants that influence height. These variants involve cases where a single nucleotide base, such as cytosine or C, is swapped for another, such as guanine or G, in a strand of DNA.

Thanks to modern technology, more than 200 global institutions involved were able to combine their data and extract meaningful results, thereby proving the merits of the genome-wide association approach.

"One of the things we were trying to do was to use height as a test case, as a proof of concept. We showed that these large studies  produced useful information," Nature quoted Kaplan as saying.

The group's findings were published in the online edition of Nature.