Author Archives: DWN

As with the previous GEITP email, the topic of this study [see attached report; note there are a bazillion coauthors on this publication J] is again about polygenic risk score (PRS) — which is the latest advance/improvement on genome-wide association … Continue reading →

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) represent the prevailing approach for identifying risk loci for common diseases and complex traits — such as schizophrenia, obesity, type-2 diabetes, drug efficacy or response to environmental toxicants. In the study design of GWAS, millions of … Continue reading →

COMMENT: Agreed, Jim. It is important for toxicologists and epidemiologists to realize that (very often, if not always): a small amount of a chemical — or in the case of this article, atom bomb radiation — can be beneficial; a … Continue reading →

Many large whole-genome sequenncing (WGS) consortia are searching for genetic pathways in clinical disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), schizophrenia (SCZ), and bipolar disorder (BD) — hoping to develop novel drugs to treat these three common psychiatric disorders that … Continue reading →

This topic might seem a little bit bizarre, or obtuse — as far as the gene-environment interactions theme of these GEITP pages. On the other hand, it might reflect my subconscious desire to have been a plant molecular biologist. However, … Continue reading →

One might consider the topic for today’s gene-environment interactions a bit unusual: “exercise” in this case is “the environment”, and the response to this environmental signal is “the genes” in the signaling pathways that aid in bone formation and burning … Continue reading →

This is just a brief GEITP note to report the passing of Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, who died at home in Belluno, Italy, 31 Aug 2018; next week would have been his 97th birthday. Professor Cavalli-Sforza was past president of the … Continue reading →

This article just appeared in Time magazine. What genetic composition (genes) is it that people have — when they respond to foods (environment) — resulting in a “true food allergy” for some, versus a “psychogenic food allergy” for just about … Continue reading →

A “mysterious” disease has been affecting many dozens of people (at least in the U.S.), and scientists are trying to understand what the “signal” (the environment) is, and what genetic architecture (underlying genetic basis of a trait, and its variational … Continue reading →

Okay, this topic is a bit intense (dense?), so stay with me on this one. The topic has to do with pleiotropy — when a gene, or a variant of one gene, causes two or more phenotypes (traits). This phenomenon … Continue reading →