The growth hormone pathway and the genetic control of height and weight

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Here we will use variation in human height and weight as a model for developing and refining methods for linkage disequilibrium-based gene mapping. Height and weight are attractive phenotypes because they have high heritability (greater than 0.6), are easy to define, and inexpensive to measure. In addition, there are appropriate candidate genes. We will use a novel multi-step programme based on linkage disequilibrium mapping to screen 25 genes from the growth hormone pathway for a minimal set of polymorphisms (haplotype tagging SNPs) that can represent the common variants in each of these candidate genes. These tagging SNPs will then be assayed in a large cohort of healthy volunteers that have been measured for height, weight, and other characteristics. The results from this study will not only improve our understanding of variation in height and weight but will also serve as an instructive model for the design and implementation of future association studies of both medical and evolutionary traits.