The largest genome-wide association study conducted, which was published in the journal Nature, used DNA from nearly 5 million individuals from 281 contributing studies. Of the individuals used, more than one million were of non-European heritage, which included African, East Asian, Hispanic, and South Asian. There were 12,111 genetic variants that offered a strong genetic predictor of height in individuals. The identified variants accounted for 40% of height variance in individuals of European ancestry, with 10-20% of height variance in non-European individuals.
The findings could help doctors identify individuals who are not able to reach their genetically predicted height, and could help in the diagnosis of hidden genetic conditions and diseases that impact height. The research done also has the "blueprint" for how genome-wide studies can be used to identify the biology and hereditary components of diseases.
After reading the article, I was astonished to find that there are many different variants and genes that affect how tall a person is. From previous knowledge, as well as the use of the internet, I knew that tall parents produced tall offspring, short parents produced short offspring, and a mix produced offspring of medium height. Though, I did not know that there were more than 12,000 variants that do so.
I agree, Chris. I only thought tall parents can produce tall offspring etc. I was also surprised to learn only 10-20% of the identified variants account for non-European individuals. Interesting!
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