新聞新知~身高由基因決定。
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研究已辨識出數百種有助於身高的基因變異。
Thursday, September 30, 2010
中文翻譯：
假如你因為自己的身高太矮或太高而認為來自父母親的基因，看完以下新聞，似乎會變得更正確。身高目前已確定是由基因造成。最近一個國際研究團隊已辨識出大量跟個體身高有關的基因變異。
國際級的科學研究包含200位來自全世界相關機構的研究員，組成GIANT Consortium(Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits = 人體遺傳性狀調查)。科學家利用基因組關聯研究，其方法為：掃描數以百萬計個可能與特定特徵、疾病有關的基因部位一般變異。
GIANT科學家分析了來自美國、加拿大、歐洲、澳洲共18萬人的基因資料，發現180個可能與人的身高相關的基因變異。這些基因變異大多與骨骼成長相關，但也有少部份基因讓科學家感到驚訝，因為這些少部分的基因之前不被認為與身高有關。這個部份將成為研究身高生物學的新指標。
雖然這個研究發表在Nature Genetics，這個領域最重要的期刊內，但值得注意的是，其中最新被注意到的基因只佔所有跟身高相關的基因10%。對於全基因組關聯性研究(Genome-wide association studies)的批評大多是：雖然這個方法有助於確定身高相關的基因變異，但這些變異只貢獻一小部分風險或可能性。
英國愛塞特大學Timothy Frayling和其他的研究者表示：「全基因組關聯性研究」是一個相當強大的工具，但儘管如此，我們對於某些部份仍缺乏周詳的了解，像是基因對於普通人身高影響有何不同。基因所產生的「複合式特性」，像是身高，比我們想像中還要複雜。假如真要徹底了解每個個體的不同之處，我們必須藉助更強大的工具，和不同的方法。
世代間的身高差異(像是青少年身高比祖父母高很多)，特別是20世紀末，可能原因為：飲食的改善、醫療的改善、妨礙幼童發育的傳染病控制。但它需要更多的研究找出人類基因的組合狀況，如何影響生理、如何受環境影響，以進一步破解身高基因之謎。
英文原文：
If you're cursing Mom and Dad's genes for making you too short (or too tall), you'd probably be justified. Height is clearly determined in large part by genes. Now an international group of researchers has identified a large collection of common gene variants that may be associated with individual stature.
The scientific collaboration, which included researchers at more than 200 institutions around the world, is fittingly known as the GIANT Consortium (for Genetic Investigation of ANthropometric Traits). Scientists used genome-wide association studies, which are designed to scan millions of sites on large numbers of genomes to identify areas of common variants that may be associated with a particular characteristic or disease.
GIANT scientists crunched genetic data on 180,000 people from the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia and found 180 different locations in the genome that were linked with variations in people's height. These gene variants tended generally to cluster around other genes that have already been associated with skeletal growth, but a few were in areas of the genome that surprised scientists, because they have no known relation to height. Those areas could become new targets for studying the biology of height.
Although the new study, published by Nature Genetics, is the largest of its kind, it's important to note that the newly identified variants account for only about 10% of the variation in people's height. It is a common criticism of genome-wide association studies that while they are good at pinpointing areas of relevant gene variants, these variants typically contribute a tiny fraction of the risk or probability of a certain characteristic.
"Genome-wide association studies are very powerful tools, but even so, we are still some way short of understanding the full details of how differences in our genomes influence common human traits such as height," said Timothy Frayling of the University of Exeter (UK) and a co-senior author of the study in a statement. "Complex traits such as height are proving even more complex than we had first thought. We will need even more powerful tools and different approaches if we are to understand fully the differences between individuals."
Generational differences in height (i.e., teenagers who tower over their grandparents), especially over the last century, can be attributed to better diet, health care and the eradication of many infectious diseases, which can stunt growth in childhood. But it will take much more research to figure out which combination of a person's genes, how they affect biology and how they are influenced by environment to understand the genetics of height.
中文翻譯：
英文原文：
If you're cursing Mom and Dad's genes for making you too short (or too tall), you'd probably be justified. Height is clearly determined in large part by genes. Now an international group of researchers has identified a large collection of common gene variants that may be associated with individual stature.
The scientific collaboration, which included researchers at more than 200 institutions around the world, is fittingly known as the GIANT Consortium (for Genetic Investigation of ANthropometric Traits). Scientists used genome-wide association studies, which are designed to scan millions of sites on large numbers of genomes to identify areas of common variants that may be associated with a particular characteristic or disease.
GIANT scientists crunched genetic data on 180,000 people from the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia and found 180 different locations in the genome that were linked with variations in people's height. These gene variants tended generally to cluster around other genes that have already been associated with skeletal growth, but a few were in areas of the genome that surprised scientists, because they have no known relation to height. Those areas could become new targets for studying the biology of height.
Although the new study, published by Nature Genetics, is the largest of its kind, it's important to note that the newly identified variants account for only about 10% of the variation in people's height. It is a common criticism of genome-wide association studies that while they are good at pinpointing areas of relevant gene variants, these variants typically contribute a tiny fraction of the risk or probability of a certain characteristic.
"Genome-wide association studies are very powerful tools, but even so, we are still some way short of understanding the full details of how differences in our genomes influence common human traits such as height," said Timothy Frayling of the University of Exeter (UK) and a co-senior author of the study in a statement. "Complex traits such as height are proving even more complex than we had first thought. We will need even more powerful tools and different approaches if we are to understand fully the differences between individuals."
Generational differences in height (i.e., teenagers who tower over their grandparents), especially over the last century, can be attributed to better diet, health care and the eradication of many infectious diseases, which can stunt growth in childhood. But it will take much more research to figure out which combination of a person's genes, how they affect biology and how they are influenced by environment to understand the genetics of height.
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