Genes: Smarter, Taller Kids Come With Genetic Diversity

Want smarter kids? Genetic diversity may be key then.

New findings published published in the journal Nature reveal that parents with diverse genetic backgrounds are more likely to have taller and smarter children than counterparts with more similarly linked genes.

Researchers at the University of Edinburg conducted the study by analyzing more than 100 different investigations performed across the globe. Study subjects from the experiment encompassed about 350,000 individuals settling in both urban and rural areas.

Researchers specifically compared the genetic diversity of the genomes involved by zeroing in on 16 different biomedical traits. Furthermore, they also took into account factors that could influence the outcome of the study, including upbringing of the child and the socio-economic status.

"We've found that the genetics are associated quite robustly across populations, and although we tried to compensate for environmental factors, we think the genetic effects are real," said the first author of the study, Peter Joshi, in a statement. "There has been speculation ever since Charles Darwin that genetic diversity would be beneficial in terms of evolutionary fitness. We think genetic diversity decreases the chances of inheriting defecting copies of the same gene from both father and mother."

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