Book Author: Richard Lewontin Reviewed by: Jonathan Latham (The Bioscience Resource Project) Biologists know that complex traits are typically associated with genetic variation between individuals. Nevertheless, if we hear on the news that obesity, antisocial …
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‘Phantom Heritability’ Indicates Poor Predictive Value of Gene Tests
Helen Wallace, GeneWatch UK (photo credit: jurvetson) Last week, a paper on “phantom heritability” was published by a research group led by Eric Lander, one of the leading contributors to understanding the implications of the …
Continue readingPsychiatrists plead to continue funding of genetic approaches to disease
Jonathan Latham Ninety six leading psychiatric geneticists have publicly requested their scientific funding agencies not to abandon the search for genetic links to mental health. In a letter, published Aug 9th in the journal Molecular …
Continue reading23andMe disproves its own business model
Jonathan Latham Online gene testing company 23andMe last week published its first genetic research study into Parkinson’s Disease. The study was funded by the participants (many of whom are customers of 23andMe), the company itself, …
Continue readingThe Great DNA Data Deficit: Are Genes for Disease a Mirage?
Just before his appointment as head of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Francis Collins, the most prominent medical geneticist of our time, had his own genome scanned for disease susceptibility genes. He had decided, so he said, that the technology of personalised genomics was finally mature enough to yield meaningful results.
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