• Question: Are hormones linked with genes in any way (e.g. whether your parents grew late)?

    Asked by lukethetieman to Derek, Elaine, Heather, Keith on 24 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Heather Eyre

      Heather Eyre answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      Hormones are coded in your genes, and so is everything else about when they are made (well everything really!).

      So there is a genetic link:

      Risk of type1 and type2 diabetes
      height
      age of menopause in women

      But, your environment is really important too! you can’t grow properly if you don’t have the right nutrition, and your body won’t enter puberty unless it feels you are well fed enough.

      A good example is myself. My growth was late because I suffered with an eating disorder when I should of been growing – but I have no way of knowing whether I just ended up growing later – whether I ended up shorter because of it! My siblings are all tall, but my Mum is short!

    • Photo: Elaine Marshall

      Elaine Marshall answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      just to expand Heather point – steroid hormones are not encoded in DNA but synthesized by the metabolism of cholesterol by enzymes so how you respond to steroid hormones depends on whether you have the correct enzymes and hormone receptor. These proteins are encoded so errors/ faults in these at the level of genotype will influence your phenotype

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