In: Nursing
Twin studies. Twins provide a number of ways to study gene-environment interaction. One such method is to study monozygotic twins reared apart (MZA). MZAs provide a unique opportunity to study the influence of different environments on identical genotypes.
For example, the child of an NBA player would probably be exposed to basketball from an early age. Such exposure might allow the child to realize his or her full genetic, athletic potential.
Gene-environment (G×E) interactions are worth studying for several reasons. Consideration of G×E interactions can improve the power for discovering genes that are involved in the etiology of disease primarily through an interaction effect with no marginal effect .
By examining G×E successes, it may be possible to improve the design of G×E studies for the future. In addition, several recent studies examined the use of polygenic risk scores, generated from common genetic variation, to assess the impact of environmental factors on individuals with low versus higher genetic risk