Epistasis Blog

From the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Lab at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (www.epistasis.org)

Friday, November 23, 2012

Genetic Influences on Disease Remain Hidden

I attended the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) meeting in San Francisco earlier this month. Much of the meeting was focused on whole-genome sequencing and the role of newly discovered genetic variants in human health and disease. There is a lot of interest in the role of rare variants as susceptibility factors for common diseases. There were relatively negative findings from several large whole-exome sequencing studies. These are reviewed in the following piece from Science. Was happy to see the final quote from Harry Dietz of Johns Hopkins University. In addition to large sample sizes, as is suggested by Dietz, we also need powerful analytical methods that embrace the complexity of human health.

Kaiser, J. Genetic Influences on Disease Remain Hidden. Science 23 November 2012: Vol. 338 no. 6110 pp. 1016-1017 [Science]