International siblings study sheds new light on the nature of the genetics of disease

Press release issued: 10 May 2022

Genetic studies aim to find regions of the genome that associate with diseases or other outcomes. A new study has shown that for social traits these genetic effects are due to a mixture of direct effects (e.g. biological effects of DNA), and indirect effects (e.g. family or social environment). Whereas biological traits are mainly driven by direct effects.

The findings suggest large-scale family datasets provide new opportunities to quantify direct effects of genetic variation on human traits and diseases. Looking at sociological questions and genetics together is a powerful tool for understanding why different health and social outcomes happen, providing better insight for potential interventions and treatments.

Paper: 'Within-sibship GWAS improve estimates of direct genetic effects' by Howe et al. in Nature Genetics [open access]

Read the full University of Bristol press release