Everyone carries dangerous genetic mutations. But only in the past five years or so have researchers begun to use genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to scour human genetic samples for the signals of individual variations. Typically, such studies assess hundreds of thousands of genetic variants in thousands of individuals sorted by traits: a certain height, perhaps, or asthma or obesity. Genetic variants that occur more frequently in one group than in another are subjected to stringent statistical analyses to determine whether associations between them and the traits are the result of biology or mere chance. As of 1 October, an online catalogue of GWAS contained nearly 700 publications linking some 3,000 variants to about 150 traits. The list of traits begins with abdominal aortic aneurysm and ends with YKL-40, a protein used as a bio-marker for cancer. Other GWAS have identified correlations between genetic variants and smoking behaviour, sleep duration and general self-reported health. The catalogue is growing swiftly: 9 out of 16 research articles in the October issue of Nature Genetics report GWAS.
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