title: The ecology of height: the effect of microbial transmission on human height.
abstract: The height that adult humans achieve results from a complex interplay between genetic endowment and environmental exposures during development. We hypothesize that exposure to microbes--both exogenous pathogens and endogenous biota--are critical environmental determinants of the expression of human height in a community. Both experimental studies and historical changes in height in relation to presumed microbial transmission support this hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Albertine S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Beard
authors.forename: Martin J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Blaser
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001724:Birth Weight; D001827:Body Height; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019049:Developed Countries; D003906:Developing Countries; D004064:Digestive System / Q000382:microbiology; D004463:Ecology; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008572:Menarche; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D011627:Puberty; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors