G = E: What GWAS Can Tell Us about the Environment

As our understanding of genetics has improved, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous variants associated with lifestyle behaviours and health outcomes. However, what is sometimes overlooked is the possibility that genetic variants identified in GWAS of disease might reflect...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS genetics 2016-02, Vol.12 (2), p.e1005765
Main Authors: Gage, Suzanne H, Davey Smith, George, Ware, Jennifer J, Flint, Jonathan, Munafò, Marcus R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol Dehydrogenase - genetics
Biology and Life Sciences
Environment
Ethanol - adverse effects
Genes
Genetic Predisposition to Disease
Genetic research
Genome-wide association studies
Genome-Wide Association Study
Genotype
Health risk assessment
Humans
Medical research
Medicine and Health Sciences
Mendelian Randomization Analysis
Methods
Risk Factors
Smoking - adverse effects
Studies
Viewpoints
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Summary:As our understanding of genetics has improved, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous variants associated with lifestyle behaviours and health outcomes. However, what is sometimes overlooked is the possibility that genetic variants identified in GWAS of disease might reflect the effect of modifiable risk factors as well as direct genetic effects. We discuss this possibility with illustrative examples from tobacco and alcohol research, in which genetic variants that predict behavioural phenotypes have been seen in GWAS of diseases known to be causally related to these behaviours. This consideration has implications for the interpretation of GWAS findings.
ISSN:1553-7404
1553-7390
1553-7404
DOI:10.1371/journal.pgen.1005765