Children of genetically diverse parents are taller and have higher IQs on average

The children of parents who are more distantly related tend to be taller and smarter than their peers, according to one of the largest studies to date into genetic diversity.

The study suggests that height and intelligence may be increasing as a growing number of people are marrying people from more distant parts of the world.

It looked at the genetic background and health of more than 350,000 individuals from around 100 communities across four continents.

Researchers found the more distantly related an individual’s parents were the taller they tended to be, the higher they scored on cognitive tests and the better their levels of educational attainment. However, the study found no link between genetic diversity and high blood pressure or cholesterol level, which had been suggested previously.

Nathan Richardson, head of molecular and cellular medicine at the Medical Research Council, which funded the study, said: “Most people would believe a diverse gene-pool is a good thing, but the discovery that height is associated with diversity wouldn’t have been foreseen.”

Only four traits – height, lung capacity, general cognitive ability and educational attainment – were correlated with genetic diversity.
Advertisement

Jim Wilson, Reader in Population and Disease Genetics at the University of Edinburgh, and an author of the study, said the findings suggest that “outbreeding” would have had advantages over the course of human evolution.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Diverse parental genes lead to smarter, taller children, finds extensive study

{{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.singularReviewCountLabel }}
{{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.pluralReviewCountLabel }}
{{ options.labels.newReviewButton }}
{{ userData.canReview.message }}
screenshot at  pm

Are pesticide residues on food something to worry about?

In 1962, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring drew attention to pesticides and their possible dangers to humans, birds, mammals and the ...
glp menu logo outlined

Newsletter Subscription

* indicates required
Email Lists
glp menu logo outlined

Get news on human & agricultural genetics and biotechnology delivered to your inbox.