Common Genetic Variation and Human Traits

Abstract

The human genome has been cracked wide open in recent years and is spilling many of its secrets. More than 100 genomewide association studies have been conducted for scores of human diseases, identifying hundreds of polymorphisms that are widely seen to influence disease risk. After many years in which the study of complex human traits was mired in false claims and methodologic inconsistencies, genomics has brought not only comprehensive representation of common variation but also welcome rigor in the interpretation of statistical evidence. Researchers now know how to properly account for most of the multiple hypothesis testing involved in mining . . .