DNA Can Predict Unusually Tall Height, Study Shows

Findings might help treat kids with growth issues and identify criminal suspects

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_142846.HTML

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By Robert Preidt

Monday, November 25, 2013 HealthDay Logo

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MONDAY, Nov. 25, 2013 (HealthDay News) -- DNA can be used to predict taller-than-average height, a new study finds.
This could prove useful in criminal investigations and in estimating if a child will be abnormally tall as an adult, the researchers said.
Their study of nearly 800 extremely tall adults and more than 9,000 normal-height people focused on 180 DNA variants previously linked to normal height differences. Forty percent of the DNA variants showed a significant effect on height in tall people.
The findings appeared Nov. 20 in the journal Human Genetics.
The study wasn't as accurate as past research that used DNA to predict eye color, hair color and age, study leader Professor Manfred Kayser said in a journal news release.
"[Still], I expect that upcoming new knowledge on height genetics will further increase the accuracy in predicting tall stature, and eventually the full range of body height, from DNA," said Kayser, a member of the department of forensic molecular biology at Erasmus University Medical Center, in the Netherlands.
That could help police when they're trying to identify suspects in crimes.
"In forensics, DNA-based prediction of appearance traits such as height, eye color, hair color and age, is useful to find unknown perpetrators whose conventional DNA profiles are not known to the investigating authorities and who thus escape current DNA identification," Kayser said.
There are also medical benefits for children with certain growth issues, said study co-author Professor Stenvert Drop, of the Erasmus University Medical Center's department of pediatrics.
"DNA-based prediction of extreme body height is relevant in pediatrics to estimate the expected body height of a child in adulthood, which can assist in considering growth-limiting treatment," Drop said in the news release.

SOURCE: Human Genetics, news release, Nov. 20, 2013

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