Tag Archives: Limb lengthening surgery

A Complete Guide To Limb Lengthening Surgery

Limb Lengthening SurgeryUpdate: Today is Nov. 27,103. This post was originally supposed to be published within the few days after July 6th of this year. I am still not done with this post. When the Complete Guide is finished, it will probably be the size of a 150+ page book. This is all free. A guide like this has to be created. However this post/guide is only maybe 5% complete.

I plan to slowly edit just this one post over the next month or two months (with the monthly updates on my own journey documented below this seminal post_. This is something that a few people have asked me to do. So I will try my best to make this guide the best that can be found on the internet, at least the ones written in English. I do hope that the people who frequent the Make Me Taller Forum come by and help contribute to the cause and provide valuable information on how to make this post better. There are plenty of blog dairies written on the forum from people who did go through the the limb-lengthening surgery journey. Thank You Guys – Michael.

Recently, someone wrote a comment on the website asking that I create a specific section dedicated to giving very useful information on the details of limb lengthening surgery. They informed me that even though they are a member of the website MakeMeTaller.org, which is a website focused on growing taller mainly through limb lengthening surgery, they felt that the information on the website was disorganized which might have made them a little confused.

I have written quite a few posts before looking at the advantages & disadvantages of going through with limb lengthening surgery, looking a the possible reasons why a person would say yes or no to the surgery, and even writing a detailed post on what happens during callotasis aka callus distraction, for an external fixator, based on a YouTube video I watched where these two orthopedic surgeons performed deformity correction surgery on the leg of someone.

Now, some people might wonder whether I am qualified to write a complete section or guide on limb lengthening surgery. I am not trained as a physician or surgeon. I only got Bs in my college level Biology and Biochemistry courses. Would I know enough about an obscure, relatively new surgical procedure to actually be somewhat of an authority on this subject? Maybe not.

I know that there are thousands of medical students and surgeons who know and understand the process of distraction osteogenesis better than me. Even the people who are regular posters and readers on the MakeMeTaller.org forum might be more qualified and know more about it than me. However, I am going to try to do my best on looking at all the considerations, details, costs, medical clinics, facilities, etc. that are related to limb lengthening surgery.

Note: Some of this information is already posted and available and is taken directly from the Resources section.

Note: I am human so I can be fallible. If I state that a listing below is valid or legitimate does not mean that it really is. Please be careful when making any form of decision that involves a medical procedure as big as surgery. I would advise one to consult one’s personal doctor first before going through with anything as big as limb/leg lengthening surgery. However, it is your life so you can do whatever you want. If you over the age of 18, you are a full adult in the eyes of the USA government legal system so you are fully responsible for any actions you take. I can only give you the information as cleanly and truthfully as I can. 

Please be careful. To get a more complete listing of Hospitals and Clinics around the world who does the limb lengthening Surgery, please refer to the Short Support website located HERE.

Orthopaedic Surgeons & Medical Clinics which performs Limb Lengthening Surgery

Based in Australia

1. Center For Limb Lengthening & Reconstruction 

Founder: Dr. Minoo Patel – Personal Profile Webpage

  • Education: MBBS, MS, FRACS, Ph. D   – NOTE: He does NOT have a medical degree AND on his personal profile page it states that he is STILL in the process of obtaining his Ph. D.
  • E-mail: info@limblengthening.com.au
  • Website: www.limblengthening.com.au
  • Tel: (61) 3 9429 8084
  • Fax: (61) 3 9429 4045
  • Address:  Suite 5.7, The Epworth Centre, 32 Erin Street, Richmond, VIC 3121, Australia

Based in China (People’s Republic)

1. Beijing Institute of External Skeletal Fixation Technology – Based off of Beijing, China. Full name is Beijing Institute of External Skeletal Fixation Technology. From the website, the institute/ clinic seems to be legitimate, however I have not gone into detail in analysis and review on the doctors and surgeons available.

  • Main Surgeon: Dr. Hetao Xia     Articles written about him Link 1, Link 2
  • Contact #: 86-10-68283645
  • Address: Beijing Institute of External Skeletal Fixation Technology , Wandimingyuan 2-402, Haidian District, Xisihuan MiddleRoad, No.39, Beijing, 100039, China 

Based in Germany

1. Prof. Dr. Augustin Betz, Founder and head surgeon of the Betz institute, Original Website (In German): Betz Institute

  • Phone #: +49 (0) 175 7815 512 ,
  • Email: info@betzinstitute.com
  • Address:  Betz institute, Heeresstr. 49 , 66822 Lebach, Germany
  • Directions: We are located 2 hours outside of Frankfurt, Germany, near the border of Luxembourg and France. The nearest airports are Luxembourg airport, Frankfurt Main, Frankfurt Hahn and Saarbrücken airport.

Description: Professor and/or Dr. Betz is internationally known for his approach to complicated orthopedic procedures in which he has pioneered minimally invasive techniques for over 20 years making him one of the most experienced limb lengthening and reconstructive orthopedic surgeons in the world.

Dr. Betz specializes in the following:

  • Limb Lengthening /corrections (legs, arms, hands and feet)
  • Development of innovative implants in the sector of corrective and reconstructive limb surgery
  • Research and development of innovative endoprosthetics
  • Specialized training courses for colleagues involved in reconstr- uctive surgical techniques
  • Green surgery®

Based in India

1. Chandak Hospital & Research Institute, Recognized for the treatment of Central and State Government Employees & their Family

Description: Dr. Abhay Chandak has developed one of India’s prestigious centres for Reconstructive Orthopedics Surgeries, using the Ilizarov technique. He has a pioneering role in popularizing Ilizarov Ring Fixator Surgery, in Northern India.This technique has revolutionized the Orthopaedic treatment, the world over. Chandak Hospital has now emerged as one of the most advanced Ilizarov Center of the country, equipped with latest instrumentation and latest medical gadgetry, where severely complicated cases from across the country are being treated successfully. The hospital prides over performing the Ilizarov surgery in approximately 800 patients in about ten years. The center specializes in the personalized care of these patients and has succeeded consistently in giving rewarding results, carving a special niche. Copyright © 2011 chandakhospitalgwalior.com

  • Phone #: 0751-2324131, 2410998
  • Email: info@drchandak.com
  • Address: 14, Hospital Road, Gwalior, 474009, Chandak Hospital And Research Institute Hospital Road, Gwalior-9 Madhya Pradesh, India

2. International Deformity & Lengthening Institute

Description: One of Asia’s largest and most experienced Centre for Reconstructive Orthopaedics using the Ilizarov Techniques. Over the last 20 years, more than 2200 operations on more than 1800 patients have been done using the Ilizarov Techniques at this Centre.All aspects of Ilizarov Techniques: such as Limb Lengthening, Deformity Correction ,Treatment of Problem fractures , NonUnions, Bone gaps , Poliomyelitis, Foot Deformities,Hip Reconstructions, Vascular Disease and Arthritis of the Knee have been extensively practiced. The Rationale for High Tibial Osteotomy has been practised here to perfection.We have great experience in Extensive Limb Lengthening for increase of height in Dwarfs

Director: Dr. Milind Chaudhary MS (Orth) is a pioneer in the field of Ilizarov Techniques in India. He was chiefly instrumental in introducing Ilizarov Techniques in India in 1989. Over the last decade, he has performed some of the most difficult and intricate surgeries using the Ilizarov Techniques, has perfected its routine applications and has introduced several new operations using this system.

Dr. Milind Chaudhary, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Age : 50 years
Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai – Director,
Centre for Ilizarov Techniques
Chaudhary Hospital, Akola.
Tele/Fax : (0724) 2435398, 2441895, 2439265.

Centre for Ilizarov Techniques, Chaudhary Trust Hospital

  • Address: Civil Lines, Akola 444 001, Maharashtra. India.
  • Phone : 0091-724-2435398
  • Fax: 0091-724-2439265
  • Mail: limblength@gmail.com

3. Center For Joint Replacement And Advanced Orthopaedics,   Website: OrthopedicsIndia.com

Dr. S.V. Santpure –  Consultant orthopaedic surgeon

  • Education: M.S.(Ortho), Fellowship, Baltimore (USA),
  • Location: Room no 36 (Monday/Wednesday/Friday) – 11.30 to 14.00 hrs
  • Kamalnayan Bajaj Hospital
  • Address: Beed Bypass Road, Aurangabad – 431 005 , Maharashtra State, India.
  • Phone: +91-9325211654
  • E-Mail: sshivkr@hotmail.com, svsantpure@gmail.com

Based in Russia

1. The Centre Of Anthropometrical (Orthopaedical) Cosmetology And Correction, Dr.Yegorov’s group

  • Contact #: +7 8442 38 39 27 (call from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM (GMT +03:00))
  • E-mail: info@rucosm.com
  • Skype name: volga-volga6
  • Address: 17 Socialisticheskaya str., stage 7 , Volgograd, Russia

2. Ilizarov’s Traumatology and Orthopaedics, Russian Scientific Center for Restorative Traumatology and Orthopaedics

Note: I am slightly suspicious of the hospital/ clinic since the website does not seem to give an address of the center. Just be cautious.

3. Russian Ilizarov Scientific Center For Restorative Traumatology and Orthopaedics

The Federal State-Financed Institution Russian Ilizarov Scientific Center for Restorative Traumatology and Orthopaedics of RF Ministry of healthcare and social development is situated in the capital of Kurgan region.

Since the 1st of October 2010 Gubin Alexander Vadimovich, M.D., is the head of the Federal State Institution Russian Ilizarov scientific centre for Restorative Traumatology and Orthopaedics of the RF Ministry of healthcare and social development.

Contact Information

  • International department +7 (3522) 45-47-58.
  • Communication in English, French, German, Japanese
  • Postal address: 640014, Russia, Kurgan, M.Ulyanova street, 6.
  • Phone number: +7 (3522) 45-47-47
  • Fax: +7 (3522) 45-40-60
  • 24-hour Call Centre: +7 (3522) 234-264
  • The Head Office: office@ilizarov.ru
  • The International Office: inter@ilizarov.ru
  • The Hightech medical aid committee: vmp@ilizarov.ru
  • The Official web-site: www.ilizarov.ru

Based in Turkey

1. Yerevan Center of Limb Lengthening & Reconstruction – www.ycllr.org

  • Address:
  • Contact #:
  • Email:

Based in USA

1. Dror Paley, MD, FRCSC, Medical Director – Paley Advanced Limb Lengthening Institute, Advanced Orthopedic Institute at St. Mary’s Medical Center

  • Contact #: Office – (561) 844-5255   Fax – (561) 844-5245
  • Email address: dpaley@lengthening.us
  • Address:  901 45th Street – Kimmel Building , West Palm Beach, FL 33407 , 877-765-4637 (Toll Free)

Description: Board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon and is nationally and internationally recognized for his expertise in deformity correction and limb lengthening. (Note: I highly recommend Dr. Paley for his credentials, exposure, and experience.)

2. Dr. Amar Sarin, Orthopaedic Consultant and Restorative Surgeon

  • Address: Clinic Address: A-136, Super Mart 1 , DLF Phase 4, Gurgaon, India
  • Practice Location: B L Kapur Mqemorial Hospital, Action Cancer Institute, Nova Surgical Center

Description: Dr. Sarin has worked at Institute for Invalids & Reconstructive Surgeries Ukraine Region, Vinnitssa Medical Institute Hospital Vinnitssa U.S.S.R. for Reconstructive Surgeries, Rehabilitative Surgeries and Illizarov Technique of Bone remodeling. In 20 years he has performed more than 3000 Ilizarov surgeries.

3. Dr. Shahab Mahboubain, DO, MPH.

Southern California Ortho Association    10640 Riverside Dr  , North Hollywood, CA 91602    Telephone: (818) 755-6500 (Office)

  • Office Location 1: 9025 Wilshire Blvd Suite 202   , Beverly Hills, CA 90211         
  • Telephone: (800) 788-1416 (Office)
  • Office Location 2: 16133 Ventura Blvd Suite 370   , Encino, CA 91436                  
  •  Telephone: (818) 379-9991 (Office)

4. International Center for Limb Lengthening , Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics, Kernan Hospital,  Center Website: Life Bridge Health

  • Phone #: 410-601-8700 or 1-800-221-8425
  • Location: Baltimore, Maryland
  • Webpage: Profile Description

Director: John E. Herzernberg, M.D. (also Director at Pediatric Orthopedics at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore)

Note: I am not sure if this place actually offers it’s services for limb lenghening for the purpose of cosmetic reasons for short stature people. 

Medical Facilities & Clinics which offer the cosmetic surgery service of Limb Lengthening Surgery

Based in China (People’s Republic)

Based in Germany

Based in India

Based in Russia

Based in Turkey

Based in USA

Types of Limb Lengthening Surgery

Limb lengthening surgery is divided into two main types based on where the metal fixators are placed relative to the actual bone material. They are either 1. Internal or 2. External. The original way devised by Ilizarov in his 30 years of orthopedic research was external and that was the main focus for most of the early years of the surgery. Then surgeons realized that instead of putting the metal fixators outside which was considered unsightly and scary, it was possible to insert the metal fixators, which went from cylindrical wires into a single thick rod which was implanted into the inter medullary cavity which is in the middle of every long bone.

External Methods

Internal Methods

The Issue Of Weight Loading & Why It Is Important

From reading the posts made by the various members of the MakeMeTaller.org forum community, it seems that there is this issue of loading that is raised quite a bit. Obviously if people are talking

Cost Of Limb Lengthening Surgery

The cost of surgery varies a lot based on the country it is performed in and how well known and respected the surgeon is. The total cost for a one time

Amount of Maximum Length expected in one leg segment for each surgery

The general consensus made by most people is that the standard way the internal method allows for is only 7-8 cms. The reason why the leg or limb can not be extended any further is because

Recovery & Physical Therapy

The Issue Of Pain

Complications With The Surgery & Recovery Stage

Biography of The Original Limb Lengthening Surgery Innovator, Gavriil Ilizarov

(source is taken from Russian Ilizarov Orthopaedic Center website)

Gavriil IlizarovGavriil Abramovich Ilizarov (1921-1992) – GAVRIIL ABRAMOVICH ILIZAROV was born on the 15th of June 1921 in the town of Belovezh (Belorus).

He graduated from the Crimean Medical Institute in 1944 that was based in Kazakhstan during the World War II and was sent to the Kurganskaya region to work at the hospitals in the Polovinski and Kosulinski districts. In 1950, he was appointed to work as orthopaedic surgeon at the Kurgan regional hospital.

In 1951, G.A. Ilizarov proposed his own device for bone fracture consolidation and received the USSR author’s certificate No. 98471 dated 09.06.52, and that was the start of his long-time work that resulted in the development of a new scientific and practical trend in the field of bone surgery that later was called compression distraction osteosynthesis. His scientific thesisCompression osteosynthesis with the author’s apparatus in 1968 was evaluated as the thesis worth of the degree of Doctor of Medical Sciences (MD)

Books & Resources About Limb Lengthening Surgery

The links for the books below are with the Amazon Associate Affiliate program.

Measure of a Man – Akash Shukla

Principles of Deformity Correction – Dror Paley

Limb Lengthening and Reconstruction Surgery – S. Robert Rozbruch, Svetlana Ilizarov

 

There Is No Magic Bullet

When I sometimes lie on my bed late at night after writing as much as possible all the topics that pop up in my head, sometimes I try to imagine what my audience, the readers, YOU are thinking. I always go back to this fundamental question “What do they REALLY want?” …and I mean REALLY WANT.

If they were being completely honest with me, where all the bullshit is finally dropped and just told me the ugly cold truth to my face, what would they actually say? I was taking a shower about 30 minutes ago and I figured it out.

You want the “Magic Bullet”.

When I finished showering, I was amazed at just how stupid and ignorant I was that I did not see the issue earlier. It always was bugging me when I used to search for a method or path to my own secret desires to gain inches to my height. I never fully did find the solution I was looking. I realized that I had done the same thing. I wanted to believe in a “magic bullet”.

I don’t even know whether the concept of a magic bullet even exists in contemporary or everyday communication or psychology but the general concept of a “magic bullet” is that the magic bullet is basically a secret or “magical” solution to a very big problem in our lives that is causing us a lot of distress, anxiety, and mental pain. Years ago I had spent over a year learning the skills and techniques on how to attract and be more successful with the opposite sex. I remember that the term “magic bullet” was thrown around a lot and now I realize that the term can be used very appropriately for this situation too. During the time the axiom thrown around was that “there is no magic bullet” and I agreed.

However when it came down to this secret little wish inside of me, I guess I could not accept that idea. Now I understand myself far better now, but I think (or at least I hope) that I also understand the readers and audience better too.

I would assume that 90% of you who read this blog/website came here hoping to find some solution to your most vexing of problems, your desire to grow taller. Sure, there are those of you who came here by accident and thought my writing was funny and decided to spend around 3 minutes of their life reading this odd website in the middle of nowhere on the internet. However, I would bet that most of you got here from going to Google (or some other search engine) from typing something like “How to grow taller” or “How do I grow taller” into that empty input box.

Well, that is my theory of how you initially got here, how you originally found this website.

And you probably choose to click on the “Height Increase Guide” tab or the “Techniques” tab first to see what techniques there are to increase height. At this time, the “Height Increase Guide” has not even been edited or have anything on it yet. I of course will get to it hopefully within some time in the next 7 days.

Anyway, depending on your emotional state, you are actively searching. You want to find something. The fact that you even decided to go to the google main page and type something in means that you are “searching”.

So the obvious question to ask is “What are you searching for?” Again the answer is that you are searching for a magic bullet. This magial solution to your problem will be easy, simple, quick, and painless. That is what we all want.

This is the scenario that I am guessing you would like to happen. You come to this website, and you read on one of my articles that I am talking about this new FDA approved oral drug that is supposed to be able to stimulate the pituitary gland to release excess HGH and also be able to reopen back up your growth plates and turn all those close epiphyseal lines into cartilage again. Somehow through the magic of science and technology, the scientists and geneticists have gotten together in some hidden underground laboratory and come up with this new “magic pill”. They have given the licensing rights to a multinational pharmaceutical company who will market the pill and now it is in every Walgreens, CVS, and Right Aid in the country with a price tag of $15.99 for a pack of 4 pills. The instructions say that all you have to do is take 1 pill once every Monday morning and after 4 weeks, you will gain 3 inches.

So you go to your local pharmacy, shell out $16 for this drug that doe not EVEN need a damn prescription!! That’s how it is! You go home, chug it down with some water, and go back to your life of doing whatever you are doing, with no regard to a healthy lifestyle like proper exercise, heathy eating, or good sleeping habits. 3 days later you grow impatient and decide to measure yourself. You do and you find that you just grew half an inch! Damn, this shit works!! You jump up in joy, go to your rooftop and dance with giddiness. So you do the waiting, and you measure again the first week is over and you are up another half an inch. You are amazed that the pill actually works. You take the next one at the specified time, and you gain a little less than 1 inch of growth the 2nd week. After 4 weeks, you are indeed 3 inches taller, give or take a few milimeters. You are over joyed at your new body, with your new long legs, and even your arms and torso grew a little. when you go to the bathroom and strip down to look at your new body, you are amazed that the drug had extended your limbs and torso perfectly in proportion, and hell, you even look more muscular now… No stretch marks, no growing pains, no side effects.

You are super happy to go out to the mall and buy completely new pants and clothing becasue hey, you are now completely transformed. You then meet your friends and they are absolutely astounded that you have changed so much since they last saw you. All you do is smile, knowing your little secret. You now notice that cute guy you have been interested in for the last 6 months is giving you the “look” and with your new found confidence you walk up to him and start to flirt…can I end this story with a “and they lived happily ever after?”

Simple, clean, pain free, work free, no hassles. This is the dream, that magic bullet we are searching for. Of course, we all know that there is nothing like that. Hell, even with our weight issues, like trying to loss 20 lbs to fit into that damn dress for say your prom is a massive internal struggle as the internal desires and forces fight it over.  I mean if we can’t even control and master something a thousand times easier like our weight issues, how the hell are we supposed to master our height issues?

Again, there is no “magic bullet” solution. Life and things will never be that easy. For everything that is worth it in life, it requires a lot of damn work to obtain. Sometimes we do get lucky and something great just falls into our lap. Yes, it does happen, like if you were sitting in a coffee shop and a cute, charming, normal guy walks up to you, compliments you, does some flirting, and proceeds to get your number.

However,when it comes to something like our bodies, we are the only one’s that are responsible for it. If we want to shape it or do something to make it better, we have to do the hard work.

I am right now sitting in a coffee shop in the middle of the Gangnam-gu area in Seoul, South Korea. Every time I go into the subway system, I see these pictures that are ads by plastic surgery clinics offering their services. And they all promise that you do not have to “settle” or just “live with” the face or body you were born with.

Yeah, that’s right… not even your genetics and inborn DNA have any power over your life anymore since if you don’t like the way your nose or eyes look, you can just plop down $4000 clams and get that changed to whatever celebrity’s nose you would like. If you happened to have a eating problem and you are now over 250 lbs with flesh slipping out of your pants and shirt, now you can just go to that clinic by the Paris Baguette on the corner and in less than 4 hours, all the fat your have been eating and accumulating for the last 15 years are removed in an instant through liposuction. If you happened to be getting older and balding, they now have these plugs and implants you can get that basically act just like real hair. Well isn’t that just simple and easy. You didn’t have to do any work. If you happend to be getting wrinkles, just go for  quick touch up by getting poison (Botox) injected into your face until you don’t even look like a real human anymore.

TRUST ME, there are some people who I walk past everyday these days whose face are completely expressionless because they have injected so much poison in their face that they can’t even move it anymore. Super scary.

It indeed feels like we are living in a society where we are always wanting everything at this instant, and can not go without instant gratification. We have lost our ability to just wait and invest for the long term. The concept of hard work is gone since we now have all the technology to get everything we want. Have we become so mentally weak in terms of willpower and endurance ability? Can we still put up with any sort of slight pain or discomfort?

Well for this issue, our desire to increase our height, their is no magic bullet. Their is no painless easy, simple solution. Even the most obvious strategy which is to get surgery and do limb lengthening is filled with complications immense pain, and time and money lost. Maybe, just maybe for this one specific area in our life, we can not just throw money and technology at the problem and hope it goes away. We actually may find for the first itme in our life with a problem which we can’t seem to be to solve no matter what we do.

My whole point is this: There is no easy simple solution to this issue. It is time to sit down, roll up our sleeves, and get to work to find a solution. It may not appear for even say another 50 years but if you truly want this, if you truly believe in this endeavor, you are willing to put in the effort to stick it out to the end.

The Genetics Of Height

If we really wanted to get the ability to change our height and grow taller without going through the painful options of limb lengthening surgery, HGH daily injections, or crazy hours spent exercises, our only option may be some form of manipulation of our genetics. I am sure I have not considered all the options out there yet but eventually I believe I will be able to get through all the stuff.

I honestly believe that one man can accomplish this large task of taking all of the research and pathways of this very small niche of human endeavor and place it all in one place, one resource which you all can go to to learn about everything that is new that is being developed.

This is why I have decided also to devote a large portion of this website/ blog to discussing and analyzing genetics and possible genetic strategies to our goal of height increase. If any of you have ever studied genetics, whether in high school, college, or graduate school, I am sure a lot of the stuff is just review to you but please put up with me just for a short while until I get to the real stuff.

So let’s begin….

There is 23 chromosomes pairs in each of the nucleaus inside the cells of us humans. In each chromosome there are millions (or even billions) of nucleotidic base pairs that go together in 3 base pair codon groups that goes on (and collect together) to form our actual genes. The only job that these genes do is to make proteins. Referring to having a gene for a trait is no longer the scientifically accepted usage. In most cases, all people would have a gene for the trait in question, but certain people will have a specific allele of that gene, which results in the trait variant. Further, genes code for proteins, which might result in identifiable traits, but it is the gene, not the trait, which is inherited. (Reference Link)

From the scientific research done at Washington University at St. Louis it has already been shown that in terms of the social-anthropological concept of “race”, there is almost no difference between the so called labels which we have been putting on different looking people. We can organized and classified into groups like Hispanic, Latino, Black , African American, Native American, Middle Eastern, Asian, etc….

Well from the link HERE the conclusive results say that even though we have all of these phenotypical differences, we are essentially “exactly” the same and that the concept of “race” does not exist becasue the the geneticists who tried to find any specific gene that determines a “race” was never found. So the idea of race can not exist.

Well, one might then quick to ask “How does all this talk about race have anything to do with height?” Well, Race and height only has a weak correlation. When people make the comment like “asian people are short” or that “black people are big”, they are trying to link the anthropologically created concept of “race” and place a correlation of it with a phenotypical aspect of the group that they see.

Many people would be quick to then throw out a derision at such a politically incorrect statement however if we do look at the stats of say a chart of the average height of different nations around the world, we can sort of make a weak correlation. There is usually some small truth in the off of the cuff, unscientific statements made from just simple observation in our everyday life experience. Stereotypes exist for a reason. They are usually in the majority of the cases (like 51% of the time) true.

From the Wikipedia article on Race and Genetics found HERE,

“”A study by Tang et al. in 2005 used 326 genetic markers in order to determine genetic clusters. The 3,636 subjects involved in the study, from the United States and Taiwan, self-identified as belonging to white, African American, East Asian, or Hispanic (=self-identified race/ethnic group (SIRE)). The study found “nearly perfect correspondence between genetic cluster and SIRE for major ethnic groups living in the United States, with a discrepancy rate of only 0.14%.”[13] “”

I realize that it is only 1 study but let’s see that the implications are. The study implies that for all of our outer differences like skin color, nose shape, hair color, or other features that determine our “race”, we are still 99.9% exactly similar in our genome structure. (Note: I am not sure whether the 99.9 % similarity refers to the number of nuceotide base pairs in the genome or the number of number of genes, becasue the two numbers have a difference of  up to 5-6 magnitudes!) However, if we remember that our genome has over thousands of genes which are made of millions and billions of nucleotide base pairs, we realize that still means that there are a few genes out there will does determine our outer appearances.

The Human Genome Project which was completed in 2003 and the entire human genome was “supposedly” completed sequenced. That means that the basic infrastruture of the average human dna is understood. A good analogy is to think of each humans as each individual brand of car. The sequencing in a way allowed us to figure out in general, where each part of the car is supposed to be, and where to look if the car starts to have a problem. So the project allowed us to get a very good general idea on how the basic human genome and DNA structure is supposed to be laid out. However, in each individual, the genes will be slightly different, but only in say 0.1% of all the genes.

From the Human Genome Project website, I quote this passage

“”October 2004 findings from The International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, led in the United States by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the Department of Energy (DOE), reduce the estimated number of human protein-coding genes from 35,000 to only 20,000-25,000, a surprisingly low number for our species (7). Consortium researchers have confirmed the existence of 19,599 protein-coding genes in the human genome and identified another 2,188 DNA segments that are predicted to be protein-coding genes.

In 2003, estimates from gene-prediction programs suggested there might be 24,500 or fewer protein-coding genes (1). The Ensembl genome-annotation system estimates them at 23,299.

When analysis of the draft human genome sequence was published by the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium on February 15, 2001, the paper estimated only about 30,000 to 40,000 protein-coding genes, much lower than previous estimates of about 100,000. This lower estimate came as a shock to many scientists because counting genes was viewed as a way of quantifying genetic complexity.

Studies since the publication of the draft genome sequence have generated widely different estimates. An analysis by scientists at Ohio State University suggested between 65,000 and 75,000 human genes (3), and another study published in Cell in August 2001 predicted a total of 42,000 (4).

Although the exact number of human genes is still uncertain, a winner of GeneSweep was announced in May 2003. GeneSweep was an informal gene-count betting pool that began at the 2000 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Genome Meeting. Bets ranged from around 26,000 to more than 150,000 genes. Since most gene-prediction programs were estimating the number of protein-coding genes at fewer than 30,000, GeneSweep officials decided to declare the contestant with the lowest bet (25,947 by Lee Rowen of the Institute of Systems Biology in Seattle) the winner (1). “”

So far the geneticists have found only 1 gene that has been shown to have some correlation to the height of the individual. However, the guess is that there is probably up to 20 specific genes that actually determine our height. What the research at the current time point at is that the height genes seem to be on the X chromosomes at numbers 7, 8, and 20 (remember that we have 23 chromosome pairs in each nucleus of our cells except red blood cells). In 2007, scientists did discover the 1st gene that showed to have an influence on one’s height after testing it through genetic manipulation on lab mice. That is the HMGA2 gene. Apparently, getting two of the “tall” type of the HMGA2 gene let’s one get an extra 1 cm in height compared to not having the gene. (Reference Link)

In conclusion, remember the study and search in genetics for the genes that determine height is still ongoing. I decided to post a last link that sums up very eloquently the effect that our genes have on our height, but also how it is connected to other factors.

“” Actually, height is what is called multifactorial. Not only are there many genes involved, such as genes for growth hormone, genes for the receptors on the outside of cells for growth hormone, genes for bone proportion, genes for the timing of the release of hormone and other growth factors; but there are also many interactions with the environment, including nutrition during gestation (while the mother was pregnant) and during the growth years, exposure to things such as cigarette smoke and alcohol before birth, birth order (generally second children are taller than first) and general health during the growth years. With all of these factors, it appears that we are born with a genetic potential for height (not all of the genes have been identified yet) and then the environment exerts its effects as we are growing. (reference link) “”

To get more information about the Human Genome Project, click HERE and HERE.