This time our reading group explored the really very tricky topic of heritability. We looked at the following paper:
One of our number (who would like to remain anonymous) did a really useful presentation on genetics, heritability and what this paper means in that context. They have kindly allowed me to post their powerpoint.
What I took away from the presentation and our discussion the following:
- Common gene variants contribute about 20% of the heritability of MS.
- Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) can help identify rare variations in genes, but the paper we looked at only found variants contributing an additional 5% of heritability.
- While this did identify genes involved in systems not studied for their contribution to MS (looking at you natural killer cells), there are diminishing returns.
- Are further GWAS worth it, or would limited funding be better spent elsewhere?
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