Epigenome-wide Association Studies and the Interpretation of Disease -Omics

• Published in: PLoS Genetics Vol. 12; no. 6; p. e1006105
• Main Authors: Birney, Ewan, Smith, George Davey, Greally, John M
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 23.06.2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Bias; Biology and life sciences; Biomarkers; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA methylation; Epigenesis, Genetic - genetics; Epigenetic inheritance; Epigenetics; Epigenomics - methods; Funding; Gene Expression Regulation - genetics; Genetic Predisposition to Disease - genetics; Genome-wide association studies; Genome-Wide Association Study - methods; Genomes; Genotype & phenotype; Humans; Hypotheses; Observations; Phenotype; Research and analysis methods; Review; Studies
• ISSN: 1553-7404; 1553-7390; 1553-7404
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006105

Epigenome-wide association studies represent one means of applying genome-wide assays to identify molecular events that could be associated with human phenotypes. The epigenome is especially intriguing as a target for study, as epigenetic regulatory processes are, by definition, heritable from parent to daughter cells and are found to have transcriptional regulatory properties. As such, the epigenome is an attractive candidate for mediating long-term responses to cellular stimuli, such as environmental effects modifying disease risk. Such epigenomic studies represent a broader category of disease -omics, which suffer from multiple problems in design and execution that severely limit their interpretability. Here we define many of the problems with current epigenomic studies and propose solutions that can be applied to allow this and other disease -omics studies to achieve their potential for generating valuable insights.