Hiding in plain sight: uncovering the genetic basis of complex phenotypes through low-risk groups.

Abstract excerpt

Medical genetic studies focus on high-risk groups to enrich for targeted phenotypes. Although genetic effects may vary across the lifespan, age-related enrichment of target phenotypes can also arise from cumulative environmental exposures, without requiring changes in genetic architecture. Accumulating environmental effects over the lifetime can inflate nongenetic variance, creating the illusion of greater...

Topics

• Humans
• Phenotype
• Genome-Wide Association Study
• Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
• Multifactorial Inheritance
• Genetic Predisposition to Disease