Nature: Scientists studying the DNA of more than 5 million people revealed genetic traits associated with human height

Scientists from the University of Queensland and other institutions conducted the largest-ever genome association study, using DNA from more than 5 million people in 281 studies to reveal genetic traits
associated with human height.

It has been hypothesized that common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) together explain 40%-50% of phenotypic variation in human height, but identifying specific mutants and associated regions may require large sample sizes
.

Recently, in a study published in the international journal Nature entitled "A saturated map of common genetic variants associated with human height", scientists from the University of Queensland and other institutions conducted the largest genome association study ever, using DNA from more than 5 million people in 281 studies.
Revealing genetic traits associated with human height, the study fills a gap in scientists' understanding of how genetic differences lead to differences in body height, with more than 1 million participants of non-European descent, that is, people of African, East Asian, Spanish and South Asian descent
.

The researchers say they found 12,111 mutants, which are concentrated in genomic sites related to bone growth, which may provide a strong genetic predictor of body height, while the identified mutants may explain a 40 percent difference in height in people of European ancestry and a 10 to 20 percent difference
in height in people of non-European ancestry.
Adult height is largely determined by information encoded by the body's DNA, namely that offspring from taller parents are taller and offspring from shorter parents are shorter, but these assessments may not be perfect
.
Growing from a small baby to an adult, genetic factors play an important role, and this has been a complex and difficult area of research
in human biology.
Previously, the largest genomic association study to analyze human height used up to 700,000 individuals, and the sample size in this paper is more than
seven times that of previous studies.

This unprecedented study may provide new details to explain human height and shortness, and genetic factors are related to multiple specific genomic regions, and some studies suggest that genetic mutations related to body height may be concentrated in regions
that cover more than 20% of the genome 。 This study may help clinicians identify people who cannot reach the height predicted genetically speaking, which may help diagnose hidden diseases or conditions that hinder their growth or affect their health, and provide a valuable blueprint for how genomic association studies can be used to identify the biology of diseases and determine the subsequent genetic components
.

Studies of the DNA of more than 5 million people revealed genetic traits
associated with human height.

Image source: Nature (2022).
DOI: 10.
1038/s41586-022-05275-y

Although this study had a large number of participants from non-European descent compared to previous studies, the researchers stress that more diversity
may be needed in genomic studies.
Most of the available genetic data comes from people of European descent, so genome association studies do not capture the broad ancestral diversity on a global scale, and increasing the size of genome association studies for non-European populations is critical
to achieving the same level of saturation and closing the gap in the accuracy of predictions for different populations.

Researcher Eirini Marouli said: "We have achieved a feat of studying the DNA of more than 5 million people, which until recently was considered impossible
by many.
Genomic research is revolutionary and has the
potential to help solve many global health challenges.
If researchers can clearly understand shapes such as height at the genomic level, they may have good models to better diagnose and treat genetically influenced diseases
such as heart disease or schizophrenia.
If researchers can map specific parts of the genome to certain traits, they may open the door to the development of a broader range of targeted personalized therapies that could benefit
populations around the world.

Taken together, the results of this study may provide a comprehensive map of specific genomic regions containing the vast majority of common height-related genetic mutants, and although this map is saturated for people of European descent, further research may be able to achieve the same level of saturation in people of other ancestry
.
(Bio Valley Bioon.
com)

Original source:

Yengo, L.
, Vedantam, S.
, Marouli, E.
 et al.
 A saturated map of common genetic variants associated with human height.
 Nature (2022).
doi：10.
1038/s41586-022-05275-y