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THERE’S a pair of genes that make men grow taller. Those with particular
variants of both genes grew 4.2 centimetres taller on average than those who
didn’t have the tall variant of either gene.

One of the genes makes aromatase, an enzyme which converts testosterone into
oestrogen, say Justine Ellis and Stephen Harrap of the University of Melbourne.
The other, which sits on the male Y chromosome, has no known function.
Paradoxically, oestrogen is thought to halt growth of long bones, such as those
in the leg, so the biochemistry of the genes’ effect remains a mystery.

Both tall and…