Synonyms
Definition
In genetic epidemiology, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) is a type of biological study that is commonly used to identify genetic variants associated with phenotypic traits, usually in the form of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). GWAS enhances our understanding on the etiology and pathophysiology of the underlying trait being investigated.
Overview
No two human genomes are the same. Human genome is about three billion base pair long and contains around 30,000 genes. An allele is one of two or more different forms on the same genetic site or a locus (loci for plural). Allele has DNA sequence(s) in the form of nucleotides that carry information about observable physical characteristics or traits, and different alleles contribute to genetic variations that result in different phenotypic traits. For a diploid organism such as human, each of the two alleles is inherited by the offspring from each parent....
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References
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Chung, T., Lau, L.T. (2019). Genome-Wide Association Study. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_1041-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_1041-1
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