Publisher
WILEYCitation
Batai, K, Hooker, S, Kittles, RA. Leveraging genetic ancestry to study health disparities. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2020; 1– 13. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24144Rights
Copyright © 2020 The Authors. American Journal of Physical Anthropology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Research to understand human genomic variation and its implications in health has great potential to contribute in the reduction of health disparities. Biological anthropology can play important roles in genomics and health disparities research using a biocultural approach. This paper argues that racial/ethnic categories should not be used as a surrogate for sociocultural factors or global genomic clusters in biomedical research or clinical settings, because of the high genetic heterogeneity that exists within traditional racial/ethnic groups. Genetic ancestry is used to show variation in ancestral genomic contributions to recently admixed populations in the United States, such as African Americans and Hispanic/Latino Americans. Genetic ancestry estimates are also used to examine the relationship between ancestry-related biological and sociocultural factors affecting health disparities. To localize areas of genomes that contribute to health disparities, admixture mapping and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are often used. Recent GWAS have identified many genetic variants that are highly differentiated among human populations that are associated with disease risk. Some of these are population-specific variants. Many of these variants may impact disease risk and help explain a portion of the difference in disease burden among racial/ethnic groups. Genetic ancestry is also of particular interest in precision medicine and disparities in drug efficacy and outcomes. By using genetic ancestry, we can learn about potential biological differences that may contribute to the heterogeneity observed across self-reported racial groups.Note
Open access articleISSN
0002-9483EISSN
1096-8644PubMed ID
32935870Version
Final published versionae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1002/ajpa.24144
Scopus Count
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Copyright © 2020 The Authors. American Journal of Physical Anthropology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License.
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