Which of the following statements about genome-wide association studies (GWAS) is false?

(a) GWAS use SNPs to compare populations of people with disease and people without disease to look for SNPs more likely to be present in those with disease.
(b) GWAS can be used even if more than one gene can cause the disease of interest.
(c) Sometimes GWAS will identify SNPs that are associated with a disease but these SNPs do not affect the gene product of the gene that causes the disease.
(d) Studies using GWAS only examine SNPs that occur very rarely (<0.001%) in the population, as those SNPs are most likely to cause disease.


(d) GWAS are best at detecting SNPs that are common in the human population. But because they are so common, these variants are likely to alter disease susceptibility slightly, as otherwise they would have been strongly selected against in the population during evolution (and therefore rare). Significant differences in the inheritance of a very rare SNP will be difficult to determine in a GWAS unless the number of people used in the study is extremely large.

Biology & Microbiology

You might also like to view...

The expression of a single allele is associated with which of the following?

A. X-inactivation B. Genomic imprinting C. Maternal inheritance D. Extra nuclear inheritance

Biology & Microbiology

Answer the following statement(s) true (T) or false (F)

1. True or False: If Ca+2 levels in the blood are too low, hormones from the parathyroid gland can induce bones to dissolve and release calcium.  2.  Animals with closed circulatory systems are more successful than animals with open circulatory systems.   Clarify Question What is the key concept addressed by the question? What type of thinking is required?   Gather Content What do you already know evolutionary success? What other information is related to the question?   Choose Answer Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?   Reflect on Process Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result? 3. Since men produce millions of sperm, but women produce only one oocyte per cycle, in the vast majority of cases infertility is due to a problem with the woman.  4.  The placenta protects the developing fetus from harmful substances like alcohol or drugs.   5. True or False: Haplodiploidy is necessary for eusociality. 

Biology & Microbiology

Which of the following best describes the stomach's role in absorption?

A) The stomach absorbs most nutrients. B) The stomach absorbs acids. C) The stomach absorbs some drugs and alcohol but few nutrients. D) The stomach absorbs mostly large proteins.

Biology & Microbiology

Sometimes hybrids are capable of reproducing; however, their offspring are incapable of producing future offspring. This is an example of _______ acting as a postzygotic isolating mechanism.

What will be an ideal response?

Biology & Microbiology