The Incredible Shrinking Man

Adult size isn’t just determined by how fast we grow. It depends also, and perhaps foremost, on how and when this growth stops. Somatic growth results from both cell proliferation (hyperplasia) and cell enlargement (hypertrophy). In mammals, somatic growth is rapid in embryonic and early postnatal life but decelerates dramatically with age, declining toward zero as [...]

Height is a classic polygenic trait which means it’s influenced by multiple genetic and environmental factors. Up to 90% of the variation in height is determined by inherited factors. Until now only a fraction of this 90% has been profiled succesfully. However, recent advances in genetics and genomics now permit comprehensive genome-wide surveys of common [...]

In an exiting paper by S. Matthew Liao,  Anders Sandberg, and Rebecca Roache, it is argued that human engineering may well be a reasonable tool to achieve a sustainable relationship between the planet and its human population. One of their more intriging suggestions is the possibility to control height through Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). This specific form [...]

Tall people need more resources than short people. That’s why it’s rather alarming that the human species continues to grow taller. In fact our increasing height puts more pressure on the ecosystem services than the total population growth. If people become 20% taller this creates over 70% more pressure whereas a 20% population growth would mean 20% [...]

People living in remote villages in Ecuador have a genetic mutation that may just hold the key to shrinking mankind. The villagers have a rare condition known as Laron syndrome. They are generally less than three and a half feet tall, they are proportional, and interestingly, they are also almost free of cancer and diabetes.
The Laron People (we prefer [...]

Mankind seems so indoctrinated to think bigger that sometimes the mere suggestion that we should become smaller is thoughtlessly rejected as mad science. Ever since the 20th century our relationship with science, vacillating between science as the salvation of society or its doom, has been personified by the fictional (Hollywood) character of the mad scientist. Following the [...]

Auxology is the highly multi-disciplinary science that studies all aspects of human physical growth. It includes such diverse fields as economics, medicine, nutrition, and anthropology.  Auxologists could, and perhaps should, play a key role in inspiring the cultural shift needed in order to accomplish a smaller mankind. However, most auxologists seem rather attached to the old [...]

A study of 1,3 million women published in The Lancet Oncology finds that tall people are more likely to develop cancer. The researchers looked at the incidence of 17 cancer types, from breast cancer to leukemia, in a long-term health study across socio-economic levels. Cancer risk rose 16% with every added 10 centimeters (4 inches) [...]

Louise S. Bicknel of the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medecine and Ernie M.H.F. Bongers of the Institute for Genetic and Metabolic Disease discovered which 5 genes are responsible for Meier-Gorlin Syndrome, a form of primordial dwarfism. Unlike with Dwarfism of Sindh MSG does create some serious health issues, but perhaps these are fixable.
The involved [...]

A group of neuroscientists of the Group Ehrsson at the Swedish Karolinska Institutet investigated how body size influences the way we visually perceive the world, and if there is truth in the idea that it is our body that serves as a fundamental reference in visual perception of sizes and distances. What makes this research relevant to [...]