Mendelian Randomization

Mendelian randomization uses genetic variants to determine whether an observational association between a risk factor and an outcome is consistent with a causal effect. Mendelian randomization relies on the natural, random assortment of genetic variants during meiosis yielding a random distribution...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association 2017-11, Vol.318 (19), p.1925-1926
Main Authors: Emdin, Connor A, Khera, Amit V, Kathiresan, Sekar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cholesterol, HDL - blood
Cholesterol, HDL - genetics
Coronary Disease - blood
Coronary Disease - genetics
Epidemiology
Genetic diversity
Genetic variance
Genetics
Humans
Meiosis
Mendelian Randomization Analysis - methods
Population genetics
Randomization
Risk factors
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Summary:Mendelian randomization uses genetic variants to determine whether an observational association between a risk factor and an outcome is consistent with a causal effect. Mendelian randomization relies on the natural, random assortment of genetic variants during meiosis yielding a random distribution of genetic variants in a population. Individuals are naturally assigned at birth to inherit a genetic variant that affects a risk factor or not inherit such a variant. Individuals who carry the variant and those who do not are then followed up for the development of an outcome of interest. Because these genetic variants are typically unassociated with confounders, differences in the outcome between those who carry the variant and those who do not can be attributed to the difference in the risk factor. Here, Emdin et al discuss the principles of mendelian randomization.
ISSN:0098-7484
1538-3598
DOI:10.1001/jama.2017.17219