Everyone's heard the old adage that the size of a man's shoes, or hands, or nose tells a lot about the size of his private parts. Then again, everyone knows that isn't true, right? Right?Well…while people may snicker and giggle, it may not be an urban myth any longer. Researchers from the University of Geneva suggest the old saying may have a basis in genetic fact.
According to the study, published in the November 6 edition of the British journal Nature, Dr. Denis Duboule and his Swiss colleagues say that a man's penis size may be genetically linked to the size of his fingers and toes.
"Digits and an ancestral genital organ could have emerged from the same genetic regulatory innovation," Duboule told Agence France-Presse. The journal article even goes as far as to say that "those rude jokes about the predictive value of shoe size could have some basis in fact."
They explain that the gene responsible for the link is a member of the Hox family of genes, which has been found to control the development of digits as well as external genitalia. To test their theory, the scientists deprived laboratory mice of the gene in question. And, sure enough, they found that the offspring were born without either digits or genitals. The researchers didn't say whether their own discreet appendages backed up their theory!