In Search of 'Birth Month Genes': Using Existing Data Repositories to Locate Genes Underlying Birth Month-Disease Relationships.

ABSTRACT: Prenatal and perinatal exposures vary seasonally (e.g., sunlight, allergens) and many diseases are linked with variance in exposure. Epidemiologists often measure these changes using birth month as a proxy for seasonal variance. Likewise, Genome-Wide Association Studies have associated or implicated these same diseases with many genes. Both disparate data types (epidemiological and genetic) can provide key insights into the underlying disease biology. We developed an algorithm that links 1) epidemiological data from birth month studies with 2) genetic data from published gene-disease association studies. Our framework uses existing data repositories - PubMed, DisGeNET and Gene Ontology - to produce a bipartite network that connects enriched seasonally varying biofactorss with birth month d

SUBMITTER: Boland MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5001771 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature