A population genetic interpretation of GWAS findings for human quantitative traits.

ABSTRACT: Human genome-wide association studies (GWASs) are revealing the genetic architecture of anthropomorphic and biomedical traits, i.e., the frequencies and effect sizes of variants that contribute to heritable variation in a trait. To interpret these findings, we need to understand how genetic architecture is shaped by basic population genetics processes-notably, by mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift. Because many quantitative traits are subject to stabilizing selection and because genetic variation that affects one trait often affects many others, we model the genetic architecture of a focal trait that arises under stabilizing selection in a multidimensional trait space. We solve the model for the phenotypic distribution and allelic dynamics at steady state and derive robust, clo

SUBMITTER: Simons YB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5871013 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature