A whole-genome reference panel of 14,393 individuals for East Asian populations accelerates discovery of rare functional variants.

ABSTRACT: Underrepresentation of non-European (EUR) populations hinders growth of global precision medicine. Resources such as imputation reference panels that match the study population are necessary to find low-frequency variants with substantial effects. We created a reference panel consisting of 14,393 whole-genome sequences including more than 11,000 Asian individuals. Genome-wide association studies were conducted using the reference panel and a population-specific genotype array of 72,298 subjects for eight phenotypes. This panel yields improved imputation accuracy of rare and low-frequency variants within East Asian populations compared with the largest reference panel. Thirty-nine previously unidentified associations were found, and more than half of the variants were East Asian specific. W

SUBMITTER: Choi J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10411914 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature