Getting more out of GWAS hits

A new study led by The Institute of Cancer Research presents a high throughput method for mapping hits from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to the genes they modulate.

GWAS can link genetic loci to disease risk, but figuring out how SNPs in the loci contribute to the disease is challenging, as many are located in non-coding regions and it's unclear if or how they alter gene expression. SNPs don't have to be in a gene to modulate its expression -- they can be in a regulatory element nearby a gene, or even megabases away. Some SNPs don't regulate genes at all (see BioCentury Innovations, July 13, 2017)...