Common DNA Variants Accurately Rank an Individual of Extreme Height

Polygenic scores (or genetic risk scores) quantify the aggregate of small effects from many common genetic loci that have been associated with a trait through genome-wide association. Polygenic scores were first used successfully in schizophrenia and have since been applied to multiple phenotypes in...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Corinne E. Sexton, Mark T. W. Ebbert, Ryan H. Miller, Meganne Ferrel, Jo Ann T. Tschanz, Christopher D. Corcoran, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, Perry G. Ridge, John S. K. Kauwe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2018-01-01
Series:International Journal of Genomics
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2018/5121540
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Polygenic scores (or genetic risk scores) quantify the aggregate of small effects from many common genetic loci that have been associated with a trait through genome-wide association. Polygenic scores were first used successfully in schizophrenia and have since been applied to multiple phenotypes including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and height. Because human height is an easily-measured and complex polygenic trait, polygenic height scores provide exciting insights into the predictability of aggregate common variant effect on the phenotype. Shawn Bradley is an extremely tall former professional basketball player from Brigham Young University and the National Basketball Association (NBA), measuring 2.29 meters (7′6″, 99.99999th percentile for height) tall, with no known medical conditions. Here, we present a case where a rare combination of common SNPs in one individual results in an extremely high polygenic height score that is correlated with an extreme phenotype. While polygenic scores are not clinically significant in the average case, our findings suggest that for extreme phenotypes, polygenic scores may be more successful for the prediction of individuals.
ISSN:2314-436X
2314-4378