Feb. 16, 2011 A 22-year study of abnormally short individuals
suggests that growth-stunting mutations also may stunt two of
humanity's worst diseases. Published in Science Translational
Medicine, the study raises the prospect of achieving similar
protection in full-grown adults by other means, such as
pharmaceuticals or controlled diets. The international study
team, led by cell biologist Valter Longo of the University of
Southern California and Ecuadorian endocrinologist Jaime
Guevara-Aguirre, followed a remote community on the slopes of
the Andes mountains. The community includes many members with
Laron syndrome, a deficiency in a gene that prevents the body
from using growth hormone. The study team followed about 100
such individuals and 1,600 relatives of normal stature. Over 22
years, the team documented no cases of diabetes and one non-
lethal case of cancer in Laron's subjects. Among relatives
living in the same towns during the same time period, 5 percent
were diagnosed with diabetes and 17 percent wit