Approved Research

The genetics of unexplained variation in bone, metabolic, and neurological traits in aging adults

Lay summary

The genetic contribution to bone, metabolic, and neurological traits has led to new scientific understanding and discovery of drug targets, but the methods commonly applied have been restricted to simple effects where a variant influences the average value of a trait only. We propose to apply a more complex set of methods that detect variance and probabilistic effects of genetic variants on complex traits, which will more fully explain variation in those traits in adult populations. We will further perform analyses stratified by age and sex to understand how these complex genetic effects vary by age and sex. These results will lead to a fuller understanding of the genetic and non-genetic variation in complex traits and diseases such as obesity and diabetes.