Tinkering with a gene can change your height, complexion

Toronto: Researchers have identified a key mechanism by which environmental factors influence traits like our height, skin colour, intelligence etc. They believe that by identifying a key gene for each trait and how it is affected epigenetically, it is potentially possible to influence the degree of its expression - and so create variation in how specific traits are expressed. By increasing the degree of DNA methylation of a gene called Egfr involved in controlling growth, they were able to create a spectrum of worker ant sizes despite the lack of genetic difference between one ant and the next.