FREGAT: an R package for region-based association analysis

Area of Science:

• Genetics
• Statistical genetics
• Bioinformatics

Background:

• Region-based association analysis is crucial for identifying genetic variants influencing quantitative traits.
• Existing software lacks comprehensive implementation of diverse association methods for various sample types.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce FREGAT, an R package for family and population-based region-based association tests.
• Provide a unified platform for various association methods, including burden tests, functional linear models, and kernel machine regression.

Main Methods:

• Development of the FREGAT R package.
• Implementation of multiple region-based association methods.
• Support for both family and population-based samples.

Main Results:

• FREGAT integrates a wide range of region-based association methods.
• The package handles both independent and structured (family) samples.
• It is applicable to genome/exome-wide studies and candidate gene analysis.

Conclusions:

• FREGAT offers a versatile and effective tool for region-based association studies of quantitative traits.
• The package enhances the applicability and effectiveness of genetic association analysis.
• It empowers researchers with a comprehensive software solution.