Genetics of complex traits

Genes play a role in human traits and diseases. Sometimes, one gene determines one trait. For example, if you have wet or dry earwax. A change one gene can also cause a disease. This is the case with sickle cell anemia. But most of the time, diseases are a result of lots of small gene changes. Schizophrenia, depression, diabetes, autism, and height are examples. In these cases, each gene or gene change explains a little part of the whole picture. We call these complex diseases or complex traits.If we add up the effects from each gene change, we can get a genetic risk score. Researchers at Vanderbilt will use BioVU to calculate genetic risk scores for lots of diseases. They will look for new links between lab values or symptoms and the genetic risk scores for each disease. The results could help us learn more about each disease. It may also help us learn who might be at risk for them. We might even learn how to better treat certain diseases.