http://thinkgene.disqus.com/a bio blog about genetics, genomics, and biotechnologyenTue, 08 Apr 2008 00:51:15 -0000http://www.thinkgene.com/a-tall-story-new-research-adds-to-growing-body-of-knowledge-of-genetics-of-height/#comment-2463747Daniel, I've read your blog, and it's excellent. Thank you for your comment.<br><br>Daniel is referring to a new genomic testing technique called Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) which was used in this study. Rather than comparing entire genomes to find associations between DNA sequences and diseases ---which is too expensive with current technology--- researchers compare "representational SNP sample sets." <br><br>A very crude analogy would be that GWAS is like looking for differences between novel editions by comparing every 13th letter of each copy.Andrew YatesTue, 08 Apr 2008 00:51:15 -0000http://www.thinkgene.com/a-tall-story-new-research-adds-to-growing-body-of-knowledge-of-genetics-of-height/#comment-2463746That's some serious positive spin! In fact, the interesting finding here is just how <i>few</i> height genes were identified by the three studies, given their enormous sample sizes (more than 25,000 individuals in one case). <a href="http://www.genetic-future.com/2008/04/height-and-hypertension-genes-in-nature.html" rel="nofollow">This indicates that the genetics of height are extremely complex</a>, and has <a href="http://www.genetic-future.com/2008/03/why-do-genome-wide-scans-fail.html" rel="nofollow">implications for the use of genome-wide scans</a> in common diseases such as <a href="http://www.genetic-future.com/2008/04/elusive-genetics-of-bipolar-disorder.html" rel="nofollow">bipolar</a> and diabetes.Daniel MacArthurMon, 07 Apr 2008 03:44:08 -0000