Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 13, 2026

Large-Scale Multi-Omics Genome-Wide Association Studies (Mo-GWAS): Guidelines for Sample Preparation and Normalization
Published on: July 27, 2021
From single-SNP to wide-locus: genome-wide association studies identifying functionally related genes and intragenic
Knut M Wittkowski1, Vikas Sonakya, Tingting Song
1Center for Clinical & Translational Science, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Ave Box 322, New York, NY 10021, USA. kmw@rockefeller.edu
Background:
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have had limited success when applied to complex diseases. Analyzing SNPs individually requires several large studies to integrate the often divergent results. In the presence of epistasis, multivariate approaches based on the linear model (including stepwise logistic regression) often have low sensitivity and generate an abundance of artifacts.
Methods:
Recent advances in distributed and parallel processing spurred methodological advances in nonparametric statistics. U-statistics for structured multivariate data (µStat) are not confounded by unrealistic assumptions (e.g., linearity, independence).
Results:
By incorporating knowledge about relationships between SNPs, µGWAS (GWAS based on µStat) can identify clusters of genes around biologically relevant pathways and pinpoint functionally relevant regions within these genes.
Conclusion:
With this computational biostatistics approach increasing power and guarding against artifacts, personalized medicine and comparative effectiveness will advance while subgroup analyses of Phase III trials can now suggest risk factors for adverse events and novel directions for drug development.
More Related Videos
05:53Candidate Gene Testing in Clinical Cohort Studies with Multiplexed Genotyping and Mass Spectrometry
Published on: June 21, 2018
11:35Screening for Functional Non-coding Genetic Variants Using Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA) and DNA-affinity Precipitation Assay (DAPA)
Published on: August 21, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Genome-wide Association Studies-GWAS
GWAS does not require the identification of the target gene involved in...
Comparing Copy Number Variations and SNPs
Copy number variations or CNVs are the structural variations that cover more than 1kb of DNA sequence. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), on the other hand, is a single nucleotide change or a point mutation that is found in more than 1%...
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs
Pharmacogenomics: Identification of New Drug Targets
Principles of Pharmacogenetics: Types of Genetic Variants
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons