Genetics of Complex Disease Flashcards
What are inter-individual genetic variations?
The variations in phenotypes between individuals.
What kinds of inter-individual genetic variations are there?
SNPs
Structural variants
What does SNP stand for?
Single nucleotide polymorphism
What are SNPs?
A genomic variant at a single base, differences in phenotypes.
Why are SNPs important?
Can act as biomarkers for disease.
Near a regulatory region can have a direct role in disease by affecting the gene’s function.
What genetics make us unique?
Physical traits
Disease susceptibility
Response to drugs/medicine
Why is genetic variation important?
Evolution
Explain the lactate example for genetic variation in disease in relation to evolution.
During starvation, adults with their lactate gene switched on after breastfeeding survived by drinking milk, whereas adults with the gene switched off got intolerance symptoms and died which left only the lactose tolerant left to breed.
What is the difference between an SNP and a mutation?
The frequency in a population, SNP is more than 1% MAF whereas mutation is less than 1%.
What are the characteristics of SNPs?
*Change in 1 single base in DNA sequence
*Heredity
- Most not functional
What does MAF stand for?
Minor allele frequency.
What does a SNP on a promotor region affect?
TF binding site
What is the effect of a SNP on the TF binding site?
Increase/Decrease in gene expression.
What does a SNP on a 5’ & 3’ UTR affect?
mRNA regulation
What is the effect of a SNP on the mRNA regulation?
mRNA stability.
Transcription regulation.
What does a SNP on a coding region affect?
synonymous
non-synonymous-missense
non-synonymous-nonsense
What effect does a SNP have on synonymous missense?
No AA change-silent
Genetic code degeneracy
What effect does a SNP have on non-synonymous missense?
AA change which leads to protein activity, stability, and regulation.
What effect does a SNP have on non-synonymous nonsense?
Create a premature STOP codon.
What would a SNP on an intron affect?
Splicing site
What is the effect of a SNP on a splicing site?
mRNA processing
What would an SNP on an intergenic affect?
Enhancer, or silencer.
What is the effect of a SNP on an enhancer/silencer?
Increase or decrease in gene expression.
What is crossing over?
In prophase I of meiosis, non-sister chromatids of homologous chromosomes can exchange genetic materials.
Why are SNPs important for inheritance of disease?
If an A allele in the ancestral chromosome increases the risk of a disease, the two individuals in the current generation who inherit that part of the ancestral chromosome will be at increased disease risk.
What are the 2 types of SNPs transmission?
Independent
Linked
What does it mean if transmission of SNP is independent?
Alleles do not travel together, due to
recombination in late prophase I generation and being too far apart forming new allele combinations.
What does it mean if transmission of SNP is linked?
SNPs are too close to be separated so no recombination occurs between SNPs. Allele combination occurs the same.
What is linkage disequilibrium?
The non-random association of alleles at different loci in a given population.
What is the linkage disequilibrium for a linked SNP transmission?
100%
What is haplotype?
Set of alleles at multiple loci located on the same chromosome that tend to be inherited together from a single parent because of genetic linkage.