Hiding in plain sight: uncovering the genetic basis of complex phenotypes through low-risk groups
Clicks: 15
ID: 321294
2026
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This
article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score —
reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
Reader Engagement
Emerging Content
4.2
/100
15 views
8 readers
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
EmergingRanked #105 of 342 articles by views in current genetics
Most read
Least read
Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 342 in total.
Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet mintedCreate a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.
5
SUSD
one-off · no wallet required
Abstract
Abstract 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 genetic signal while in fact masking underlying genetic effects. We propose investigating the genetic architecture of complex phenotypes in lower-risk, younger individuals, which may reduce residual variance and improve power to isolate the genetic underpinnings of complex disease-related traits. To illustrate this, we analyzed 9 complex traits across age-stratified White European cohorts in the UK Biobank. Genome-wide association analyses reveal a greater number of genome-wide significant SNPs in younger cohorts. Complementing these results, heritability analyses show a higher relative genetic contribution in younger cohorts. Together, these patterns demonstrate that genetic signals are more readily detected in lower-risk, younger individuals. This perspective suggests that temporal dynamics in genetic architecture should guide participant selection, challenging the traditional focus on high-risk older groups and highlighting the value of targeting higher-heritability groups for genetic discovery.
| Reference Key |
openalex_W7169121810
Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using
SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
|
|---|---|
| Authors | Ana I. Vázquez, Yifei Li, Guanqi Lu, Harish Neelam, Molly S. Bray, Sadeep Shrestha, Richard J. Reynolds, Hongsheng Gui, Davorka Gulisija |
| Journal | current genetics |
| Year | 2026 |
| DOI |
10.1093/genetics/iyag162
|
| URL | |
| Keywords | Keywords not found |
Citations
No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.