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Genetics & Biotechnology vocabulary · Inheritance and Population Genetics

GWAS

Meaning in genetics & biotechnology, with examples

abbreviationAdvanced term

In genetics & biotechnology, GWAS means: Genome-wide association study: a study that tests hundreds of thousands of genetic variants in many people to find which ones are more common in those with a particular trait or disease.

In Turkish: GWAS, genom boyu ilişkilendirme çalışması, genom çapında ilişkilendirme çalışması

How it is used

Used in population genetics and research on complex diseases. A GWAS reports associated loci, usually shown in a Manhattan plot, with a significance threshold of p < 5 × 10⁻⁸. Most researchers pronounce it 'JEE-wass'. The plural is written GWASs or 'GWAS studies'.

Example sentences

  1. A large GWAS identified more than 200 loci linked to type 2 diabetes.

  2. The GWAS signal falls in a non-coding region, so we don't know the causal gene yet.

Common collocations

  • GWAS hit
  • GWAS signal
  • large-scale GWAS
  • GWAS summary statistics
  • Manhattan plot
  • SNPSingle nucleotide polymorphism: a position in the genome where people commonly differ by one base. SNPs are the most common type of genetic variation.
  • locusA specific position on a chromosome where a particular gene or DNA sequence is found. The plural is loci.
  • traitA characteristic of an organism, such as eye color, height, disease risk or drought tolerance, that can be passed on or influenced by genes.
  • alleleOne of the different versions of a gene that can exist at the same position on a chromosome. You inherit one allele of each gene from each parent.

More terms: Inheritance and Population Genetics

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