Since then, the genes responsible for many other forms of dwarfism have also been identified, as well as other risk factors. Men over 35, for example, carry a greater accumulation of genetic errors in their sperm and are more likely to father dwarfed children. How they affect the organism is the elegant part. In some cases, this previously mysterious elegance is now being uncovered by scientists. Mutant receptors in FGFR3, for instance, cause a normally inactive protein in the cell to move into the cell nucleus and switch on a gene that inhibits cell division.
Fewer cells dividing in the growth plates of bones mean that the bones grow more slowly.
This knowledge translates into possible interventions. Dr. Avner Yayon of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, has begun experiments in genetically altered mice using substances that block the mutant FGFR3 signals. Well, I'm starting to think it may happen in my lifetime. And therein, Hall acknowledges, also lies the controversy. Genetic diagnosis and pharmacological treatment potentially may expand the choices open to parents of all heights, but the Little People of America and others worry about abuse.