Parents may be able to predict how tall their children will become, with the discovery of the first gene linked to height. Researchers said the find, based on a study of the DNA of almost 35,000 people, was expected to herald a flood of other discoveries about genes that contribute to stature and different physical traits. People who inherit one copy of the ‘tall’ genetic variant are about half a centimetre taller than those with none. Having two copies adds about one centimetre in height. Tim Frayling, of the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, a member of the international research team, said hundreds of genes were thought to contribute to stature. ‘This is just the first of many that will be found.’ Nature, rather than nurture, is most influential in determining how tall people grow. Better diets have meant each generation has got progressively taller, but studies of twins show that about 90 per cent of the normal variation in height between people is determined by genes. Joel Hirschhorn, of Harvard Medical School, said the research could benefit parents of very short children who were often referred to doctors in case delayed growth was a […]