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Shedding new light on genetic dark matter

Discoveries from genome-wide association studies have contributed to our knowledge of the genetic etiology of many complex diseases. However, these account for only a small fraction of each disease's heritability. Here, we comment on approaches currently available to uncover more of the genetic...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Melhem, Nadine, Devlin, Bernie
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3092108/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21067556
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/gm200
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author Melhem, Nadine
Devlin, Bernie
author_facet Melhem, Nadine
Devlin, Bernie
author_sort Melhem, Nadine
collection PubMed
description Discoveries from genome-wide association studies have contributed to our knowledge of the genetic etiology of many complex diseases. However, these account for only a small fraction of each disease's heritability. Here, we comment on approaches currently available to uncover more of the genetic 'dark matter,' including an approach introduced recently by Naukkarinen and colleagues. These authors propose a method for distinguishing between gene expression driven by genetic variation and that driven by non-genetic factors. This dichotomy allows investigators to focus statistical tests and further molecular analyses on a smaller set of genes, thereby discovering new genetic variation affecting risk for disease. We need more methods like this one if we are to shed a powerful light on dark matter. By enhancing our understanding of molecular genetic etiology, such methods will help us to understand disease processes better and will advance the promise of personalized medicine.
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spelling pubmed-30921082011-10-21 Shedding new light on genetic dark matter Melhem, Nadine Devlin, Bernie Genome Med Commentary Discoveries from genome-wide association studies have contributed to our knowledge of the genetic etiology of many complex diseases. However, these account for only a small fraction of each disease's heritability. Here, we comment on approaches currently available to uncover more of the genetic 'dark matter,' including an approach introduced recently by Naukkarinen and colleagues. These authors propose a method for distinguishing between gene expression driven by genetic variation and that driven by non-genetic factors. This dichotomy allows investigators to focus statistical tests and further molecular analyses on a smaller set of genes, thereby discovering new genetic variation affecting risk for disease. We need more methods like this one if we are to shed a powerful light on dark matter. By enhancing our understanding of molecular genetic etiology, such methods will help us to understand disease processes better and will advance the promise of personalized medicine. BioMed Central 2010-10-21 /pmc/articles/PMC3092108/ /pubmed/21067556 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/gm200 Text en Copyright ©2010 BioMed Central Ltd.
spellingShingle Commentary
Melhem, Nadine
Devlin, Bernie
Shedding new light on genetic dark matter
title Shedding new light on genetic dark matter
title_full Shedding new light on genetic dark matter
title_fullStr Shedding new light on genetic dark matter
title_full_unstemmed Shedding new light on genetic dark matter
title_short Shedding new light on genetic dark matter
title_sort shedding new light on genetic dark matter
topic Commentary
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3092108/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21067556
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/gm200
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