Shawn Bradley Is Really, Really Tall. But Why?
https://www.wsj.com/articles/shawn-bradley-genetic-test-height-1537278144 [www.wsj.com]
2018-09-19 04:29
Bradley was not tall because of any genetic disorders. He was tall because of an uncommon blend of common genes.
“Shawn had this incredibly unique combination of genetic variants,” Kauwe said. “Any one of them can be carried by any one of us. But he happens to have a whole lot of the ones that make you taller and very few of the ones that make you shorter.”
What made it especially remarkable, though, was how unremarkable it was. There are thousands of SNPs, and every one of them has a small effect on height. Bradley was unusual because he had lots of little mutations that added up. It was like he’d been given a million dollars in pennies.