Topic description and stories

Portrait of a young girl writing in her diary

Largest ever genetic study of age of puberty in girls shows links with weight gain

01 Jul 2024

Genes can indirectly influence the age at which girls have their first period by accelerating weight gain in childhood, a known risk factor for early...

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Young girl

Scientists discover how our brain uses nutritional state to regulate growth and age at puberty

03 Nov 2021

Cambridge scientists have discovered how a receptor in the brain, called MC3R, detects the nutritional state of the body and regulates the timing of...

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Study identifies hundreds of genes that influence timing of puberty and alter risk of several cancers

24 Apr 2017

The largest genomic analysis of puberty timing in men and women conducted to date has identified 389 genetic signals associated with puberty timing...

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Study identifies gene changes that influence timing of sexual behaviour

18 Apr 2016

A study of over 380,000 people, published today in the journal Nature Genetics , has identified gene differences that influence the age of puberty...

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Opinion: Losing your virginity: how we discovered that genes could play a part

15 Apr 2016

John Perry and Ken Ong (MRC Epidemiology Unit) discuss how sexual milestones are influenced by our genes and how this can impact on broader health...

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Race to puberty

Age of puberty in girls influenced by which parent their genes are inherited from

23 Jul 2014

The age at which girls reach sexual maturity is influenced by ‘imprinted’ genes, a small sub-set of genes whose activity differs depending on which...

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