眾所周知父母身高對下一代身高影響很大，傳統(tǒng)上人們會根據(jù)父母身高來預(yù)測孩子身高，然而新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在決定身高這件事上，遺傳因素只占40%，而營養(yǎng)等后天因素則占到了60%。

Parents worried that they may pass on their short stature to their children can rest easy as a new study reveals nurture is more important than nature when it comes to a person’s height.

擔(dān)心自己的矮個子會遺傳給孩子的父母可以放寬心了，因為新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，對一個人的身高而言，營養(yǎng)比遺傳更重要。

A landmark piece of research has found that more than 12,000 genes are responsible for determining how tall a person becomes, but this hereditary aspect is just 40 percent of the picture.

一項具有里程碑意義的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，影響一個人身高的基因超過1.2萬個，然而在決定身高上，遺傳因素只占40%。

The other 60 percent is caused by nurture-based traits like environment, upbringing and quality of life.

另外60%取決于環(huán)境、養(yǎng)育和生活質(zhì)量等后天特性。

Analysis of more than 5.4 million people discovered the culpable chunks of DNA involved in height determination and found them to live in parts of the genome which are responsible for skeletal growth.

這項研究在分析了逾540萬人的資料后發(fā)現(xiàn)，決定身高的DNA片段存在于與骨骼生長有關(guān)的部分基因組中。

"Our study identified 12,111 genetic markers – or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) – associated with height in more than five million individuals from participating studies,” study author Dr Eirini Marouli, associate professor in computational biology at Queen Mary University of London, told The Telegraph.

該研究的作者、倫敦瑪麗女王大學(xué)計算生物學(xué)副教授艾利尼·馬柔里博士告訴《每日電訊報》：“我們的研究在500多萬參與者中識別出了12111個與身高有關(guān)的基因標(biāo)記（單核苷酸多態(tài)性）?！?/p>

"These explain 40 percent of height variation in individuals of European ancestries and between 10-20 percent in non-European populations.”

“這些基因標(biāo)記解釋了歐洲血統(tǒng)者身高差異的40%以及非歐洲血統(tǒng)者身高差異的10-20%?！?/p>

But she added that genetics and its “complex manifestation” are just one part of the explanation.

但是她也指出，基因與其“復(fù)雜表現(xiàn)”只能解釋其中一部分。

"Additional aspects could potentially include: advancement in healthcare, nutrition, lifestyle and environmental factors,” Dr Marouli said.

馬柔里博士稱：“其他可能影響身高的方面包括：醫(yī)療進步、營養(yǎng)、生活方式和環(huán)境因素?！?/p>

The study, published in Nature, also predicted how tall a person would become based on their genes alone and was found to be more accurate than the current method which estimates a child’s length by the height of their parents.

這項發(fā)表在《自然》上的研究還單獨根據(jù)基因預(yù)測了一個人的身高，并發(fā)現(xiàn)這一預(yù)測結(jié)果比根據(jù)父母身高預(yù)測孩子身高的現(xiàn)有方法更為準(zhǔn)確。

"Traditionally we use family history to predict a child’s height, but this isn’t a perfect method,” Dr Marouli explained.

馬柔里博士解釋道：“傳統(tǒng)上我們用家族史來預(yù)測孩子的身高，但這個方法并不理想?！?/p>

"For example, it’s not very accurate in predicting height differences such as those amongst siblings.

“例如，用這種方法來預(yù)測兄弟姐妹的身高差異就不是很準(zhǔn)確?！?/p>

"Using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), or markers of changes in our DNA, could have the potential to give a more accurate prediction.

“通過觀測單核苷酸多態(tài)性或基因標(biāo)記的變化則可能會給出更準(zhǔn)確的預(yù)測結(jié)果。”

"This more accurate height prediction could be useful in healthcare. For example, if a child does not reach their predicted height, it could indicate that there might be an underlying condition that might be affecting growth, for example, related to hormonal deficiencies.

“提高身高預(yù)測的準(zhǔn)確性對于醫(yī)療保健很有用。舉例而言，如果一個孩子沒有達(dá)到預(yù)期身高，則可能意味著存在影響長高的潛在條件，比如激素缺乏。”

"When we combined all the identified genetic variants together into our best polygenic score along with the parental height average that led to an accuracy of more than 54 percent."

“如果我們把識別出的所有基因變量與最佳的多基因評分相結(jié)合，再綜合考慮父母的平均身高，對孩子身高的預(yù)測準(zhǔn)確度則可以提高到54%以上。”

"Thus, having a prediction based on genetic changes could potentially provide more accuracy.”

“因此，根據(jù)基因變量來做出的身高預(yù)測可能會更準(zhǔn)確?！?/p>

英文來源：每日電訊報

翻譯&編輯：丹妮