Biomedical subjects

23andMe Research Team

Publications and source records attributed to 23andMe Research Team.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2026

Prediction of alcohol consumption: The role of genetics, impulsivity, and sensation seeking from adolescence to adulthood.

BACKGROUND: There are well-known phenotypic and genetic associations among impulsivity, sensation seeking (SS), and alcohol consumption, but whether they vary between adolescence and early adulthood remains unclear. PURPOSE/HYPOTHESES: We hypothesized that adolescent alcohol consumption would be better predicted by polygenic indices (PGIs) of impulsivity and SS than PGIs of adult alcohol consumption (drinks per week; DPW), but that the reverse would be observed in young adulthood (i.e., stronger associations for DPW PGIs). METHODS: N = 733-754 twins of European genetic ancestry from the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study were assessed at age 17 and/or 23 years using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: The SS PGIs were associated with alcohol consumption in adolescence (β=0.16), whereas DPW PGIs were associated with alcohol consumption in early adulthood (β=0.15). Additionally, phenotypic measures of impulsivity and SS are associated with alcohol consumption at both ages (β=.13-.21) and mediated some PGI-alcohol associations. DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that genetic influences on alcohol consumption change from adolescence to early adulthood, with genetic influences on sensation seeking most relevant to alcohol consumption in adolescence.

Humans↗

PubMed2026

Genomic analyses implicate hormonal and metabolic dysregulation in polycystic ovary syndrome.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and its underlying features remain poorly understood. In this genetic study (n = 544,513), we expand the number of genetic loci from 16 to 29, and additionally identify 31 associated plasma proteins. Many risk-increasing loci were associated with later age at menopause, underscoring the reproductive longevity related to an increased oocyte number and/or availability across the lifespan. Hormonal regulation in the etiology of this condition, through metabolic and reproductive features, was emphasized. The proteomic analysis highlighted metabolic biology known to be related to PCOS. A polygenic risk score (PRS) was associated with adverse cardiometabolic outcomes, with differing relevance of testosterone and body mass index in women and men. Finally, while oligo-anovulation and anovulatory infertility are features of PCOS, we observed no impact of PCOS susceptibility on childlessness. We suggest that PCOS susceptibility confers balanced pleiotropic influences on fertility in women, and life-long adverse metabolic consequences in both sexes.

Humans↗

PubMed2025

An Updated Polygenic Index Repository: Expanded Phenotypes, New Cohorts, and Improved Causal Inference.

Polygenic indexes (PGIs) - DNA-based predictors of individual phenotypes - have become essential tools across biomedical and social sciences. We introduce Version 2 of the Polygenic Index Repository, which expands phenotype coverage from 47 to 61, increases the number of participating datasets from 11 to 20, and adopts a more consistent and improved methodology for PGI construction. For 16 phenotypes, we leverage summary statistics from an updated GWAS meta-analysis with greater statistical power compared to the original release, thereby improving the PGI's predictive power. To improve power for family-based analyses, we provide imputed parental PGIs in all datasets with first-degree relatives and offer a framework for interpreting results from analyses that control for parental PGIs. We illustrate the utility of parental PGIs using two applications: (1) comparing PGI associations with and without parental PGI controls for all phenotypes in two Repository datasets with family data, and (2) for BMI and diastolic blood pressure, exploring the contribution of causal versus non-causal components of PGI associations to the imperfect portability of PGIs across subgroups within a genetic ancestry. Collectively, the updates enhance predictive performance, broaden the Repository's scope, and introduce novel resources that reduce confounding bias and improve interpretability.

Journal Article↗