Category: Genetics

Dino/Bird Maker Space

March 25, 2024 By arne hendriks Off

Birds evolved through a unique phase of sustained miniaturisation in theropod dinosaurs. They didn’t just shrink but continued to do so over long periods of time. Therefor we can conclude that long before their small descendents developed the ability to fly, smallness already had clear…

MCR3

November 7, 2021 By arne hendriks Off

According to research at the University of Cambridge the protein melanocortin receptor 3 appears to have an important role in linking signals of caloric sufficiency to the control of lineair growth of the human body. The research provides a mechanistic basis for the global secular…

The Peruvian Variant

May 30, 2020 By arne hendriks Off

Nearly 4,000 common variations in DNA are known to affect stature. Each variant nudges your height up, or down, with one millimeter or so. But now researchers have identified the single largest genetic contributor to human height known to date. The sensational findings of the…

Hallmarks of Malignant Growth: Limitless Replicative Potential

June 15, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

In trying to understand what makes continuous growth such a powerful idea (despite clear evidence that it often becomes harmful) The Incredible Shrinking Man turned to cancer research to learn where healthy growth turns malignant. Although cancer is a very complex phenomenon the seminal paper…

Hallmarks of Malignant Growth: Resisting Apoptosis

June 11, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

In trying to understand what makes continuous growth such a powerful idea (despite clear evidence that growth often becomes harmful) The Incredible Shrinking Man turned to cancer research to learn how growth as part of a healthy and balanced system turns malignant. Although cancer is…

Hallmarks of Malignant Growth: Evading Growth Suppressors

June 1, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

In trying to understand what makes continuous growth such a powerful idea (despite clear evidence that it often becomes harmful) The Incredible Shrinking Man turned to cancer research to learn where healthy growth turns malignant. Although cancer is a very complex phenomenon the seminal paper…

Hallmarks of Malignant Growth: Self-Sufficiency in Growth Signals

May 1, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

To understand what makes continuous growth such a powerful idea, despite clear evidence that it often becomes harmful, The Incredible Shrinking Man turned to cancer research to learn where growth within a healthy system turns malignant. Although cancer is a very complex phenomenon the seminal paper “…

Haplogroup Hot Switch

April 1, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

Haplogroup I-M170 is a common Y chromosome DNA haplogroup among unnecessary tall males mostly situated in North and South East Europe. The descendants sharing this specific group of identical genetic traits all come from a unique male ancestor that lived approximately 22.000 years ago during…

Darwin’s Finches

March 10, 2017 By arne hendriks Off

If the human species embraces a desire to become smaller, as it embraced the desire to become taller in the past and present, then it is of some interest to know how fast this desire could influence human size and if desire alone is enough.…

Shrink Agents

April 30, 2016 By arne hendriks 0

Growth, it often seems, is the rhythm of life. But not for all life. Fortunately there are animals and plants that go against the tide and embody some of the shrink values we should develop within the human species. Through a process of interspecial learning…

Full Length over Exon Deficient

November 14, 2015 By arne hendriks 0

The growth hormone receptor is embedded in the outer membrane of the cell. It has three major parts: 1. An extracellular region that sticks out from the surface of the cell. 2. A transmembrane region that anchors the receptor to the cell membrane. 3. An…

The Tall Dutch

April 9, 2015 By arne hendriks 0

The Dutch are the tallest people in the world: its women stand almost 1.71 metres (5.6 feet) tall, and its men 1.84 metres. But how the Dutch became the world’s tallest people is still debated. Now a Dutch scientist, Gert Stulp, of the London School…

We are the Model Organism

April 3, 2015 By arne hendriks 0

The Incredible Shrinking Man is interested in the scientific culture of model organisms. A model organism is an animal species that is studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the organism model will provide insight into human biology. This research strategy is…

2000+ Genetic Factors

December 9, 2014 By arne hendriks 1

Since 2007 researchers of the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) consortium are quickly uncovering the polygenic traits that influence human height.  Recently they analysed data from the genomes of another 253,288 subjects and were able to identify 697 gene variants, the pieces of DNA that…

FOXO3a

June 20, 2014 By arne hendriks 0

Recent studies have identified the FOXO3a (Forkhead Box 3a) transcription gene as an important regulator of morphological scaling. It’s a key regulatory gene in a nutrient- and energy-sensing biological pathway (insulin/IGF-1 signalling pathway),that throughout our evolution was conserved from yeast to humans. FOXO3a anticipates food scarcity…

Pit-1

January 13, 2014 By arne hendriks 0

Human height is the result of how genetic height potential is turned into reality by circumstance. From the first whispers of life in the womb, the DNA in the nuclei of the embryo’s cells ‘monitors’ what situation to expect at birth, and develops the body…

Celebrate Lactose Intolerance

October 5, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

Exaggerated consumption of milk stimulates an undesirable increase in human height through stimulation of the production of growth hormone. Milk cows also have a considerable environmental footprint because they’re fed high protein diets. One of humanity’s defense mechanisms against these two undesirable effects is lactose…

It’s Not (All) About Genes

August 2, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

There is a strong correspondance between your height and the average height of your parents. In Western societies height is up to 90% heritable. But it’s no excuse. Heritability statistics do not reflect the relative importance of genes in explaining height. They reflect what causes…

Zebrafish Portraits

June 7, 2013 By arne hendriks 0

Although our last common ancestor lived approximately 450 million years ago the genetic profile of the zebrafish, or Danio rerio, is surprisingly similar to human beings. In addition they are easy to breed, have transparent embryo development and are very cost effective. These, and many…