你为何长不高？

一个国际小组对25万余人身上的DNA进行了比较，以期找到能够解释人类身高差异的遗传变异。这些专家在英国《自然•遗传学》杂志上撰文说，他们发现遗传密码方面的697个单一改变，这些改变位于424个基因座。他们说，本次发现的遗传变异数目占到据信与身高有关的所有遗传变异数目的约20%。此前发现的数目占据信总数的12.5%，其余的遗传变异仍有待发现。

英格兰埃克塞特大学的蒂姆•弗雷林教授说：“这对解释一个科学谜团大有帮助，它可能会给治疗与身高有关的疾病带来真正的影响。”这些疾病包括骨质疏松、癌症以及心脏病。弗雷林说：“这也朝着一项试验迈出了一步，这一试验或许能让担心孩子长不到理想身高的家长放心。这些孩子中的大多数仅仅是继承了一大堆‘矮个子基因’。”

研究小组说，此前的研究表明，遗传因素在身高决定因素中占比超过80%，其余因素是营养和其他“环境”影响。过去的研究认为，身高越高，患乳腺癌或前列腺癌的几率就越大，但是患心血管疾病的几率会减小。数据显示，较矮的人往往寿命更长。但是其中的原因还不清楚。

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