Why are males generally taller than females?
Over 4cm of men’s height is due to the combination of just two genes, according to a new study undertaken at the University of Melbourne. The research, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism this week, identifies one gene on chromosome 15 and one on the Y chromosome as contributors to height in men. These genes may also help explain why men are taller than women. The genes operate independently but have an additive effect, said Dr Justine Ellis, who authored the study with colleagues Professor Stephen Harrap and Dr Margaret Stebbing from the Department of Physiology at the University of Melbourne. “If you have the tall version of both of these genes you will be taller than a person who only has the tall version of one of them,” she said. The Y chromosome is the male sex chromosome, absent in women. The gene on chromosome 15, called CYP19, codes for aromatase – an enzyme that converts testosterone into oestrogen in both sexes. Oestrogen influences height becau
