A new, very large genome-wide association study has uncovered many novel genetic factors associated with circulating lipid levels. The success of this study came partly from analysing many samples, but mostly from including individuals of non-European ancestry. So, why is studying genetic diversity important and how can it help to fight cardiovascular disease?
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Assessing the safety of lipid-modifying medications among Chinese adolescents: a drug-target Mendelian randomization study
BMC Medicine Open Access 31 October 2023
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Cadby, G. et al. Heritability of 596 lipid species and genetic correlation with cardiovascular traits in the Busselton Family Heart Study. J. Lipid Res. 61, 537–545 (2020).
Graham, S. E. et al. The power of genetic diversity in genome-wide association studies of lipids. Nature 600, 675–679 (2021).
Evans, D. M. & Cardon, L. R. A comparison of linkage disequilibrium patterns and estimated population recombination rates across multiple populations. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 76, 681–687 (2005).
Vergara-Lope, A. et al. Linkage disequilibrium maps for European and African populations constructed from whole genome sequence data. Sci. Data 6, 208 (2019).
Polygenic Risk Score Task Force of the International Common Disease Alliance. Responsible use of polygenic risk scores in the clinic: potential benefits, risks and gaps. Nat. Med. 27, 1876–1884 (2021).
Duncan, L. et al. Analysis of polygenic risk score usage and performance in diverse human populations. Nat. Commun. 10, 3328 (2019).
Martin, A. R. et al. Clinical use of current polygenic risk scores may exacerbate health disparities. Nat. Genet. 51, 584–591 (2019).
Wojcik, G. L. et al. Genetic analyses of diverse populations improves discovery for complex traits. Nature 570, 514–518 (2019).
Privé, F. et al. Portability of 245 polygenic scores when derived from the UK Biobank and applied to 9 ancestry groups from the same cohort. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 109, 12–23 (2022).
Lipphardt, V. et al. Europe’s Roma people are vulnerable to poor practice in genetics. Nature 599, 368–371 (2021).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The author declares no competing interests.
Additional information
Related links
Beyond 1 Million Genomes: https://b1mg-project.eu/
Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium: https://www.chargeconsortium.com/
Global Lipids Genetics Consortium: www.lipidgenetics.org
The Genome of Europe: https://b1mg-project.eu/1mg/genome-europe
The Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) study: https://pagestudy.org
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Uitterlinden, A.G. Diversity in human genetics studies accelerates discovery and improves health care. Nat Rev Cardiol 19, 289–290 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-022-00696-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-022-00696-8