Hindorff, L. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2017

Genetic Identification Of A Common Collagen Disease In Puerto Ricans Via Identity-By-Descent Mapping In A Health System

Achieving confidence in the causality of a disease locus is a complex task that often requires supporting data from both statistical genetics and clinical genomics. Here we describe a combined approach to identify and characterize a genetic disorder that leverages distantly related patients in a health system and population-scale mapping. We utilize genomic data to uncover components of distant pedigrees, in the absence of recorded pedigree information, in the multi-ethnic BioMe biobank in New York City. By linking to medical records, we discover a locus associated with genetic relatedness that also underlies extreme short stature. We link the gene, COL27A1, with a little-known genetic disease, previously thought to be rare and recessive. We demonstrate that disease manifests in both heterozygotes and homozygotes, indicating a common collagen disorder impacting up to 2% of individuals of Puerto Rican ancestry, leading to a better understanding of the continuum of complex and Mendelian disease.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2017

A Standardized Framework For Representation Of Ancestry Data In Genomics Studies

BackgroundThe accurate description of ancestry is essential to interpret and integrate human genomics data, and to ensure that advances in the field of genomics benefit individuals from all ancestral backgrounds. However, there are no established guidelines for the consistent, unambiguous and standardized description of ancestry. To fill this gap, we provide a framework, designed for the representation of ancestry in GWAS data, but with wider application to studies and resources involving human subjects.\n\nResultHere we describe our framework and its application to the representation of ancestry data in a widely-used publically available genomics resource, the NHGRI-EBI GWAS Catalog. We present the first analyses of GWAS data using our ancestry categories, demonstrating the validity of the framework to facilitate the tracking of ancestry in big data sets. We exhibit the broader relevance and integration potential of our method by its usage to describe the well-established HapMap and 1000 Genomes reference populations. Finally, to encourage adoption, we outline recommendations for authors to implement when describing samples.\n\nConclusionsWhile the known bias towards inclusion of European ancestry individuals in GWA studies persists, African and Hispanic or Latin American ancestry populations contribute a disproportionately high number of associations, suggesting that analyses including these groups may be more effective at identifying new associations. We believe the widespread adoption of our framework will increase standardization of ancestry data, thus enabling improved analysis, interpretation and integration of human genomics data and furthering our understanding of disease.

genetics↗