GEE SEMINAR SERIES

Dear All

The next GEE Seminar Series talk is from Dr Ewan Birney entitled 'The impact of both genetics and the environment’s on phenotypes - a story in two acts'.

This seminar is open to all regardless of career stage. Please share details with colleagues, wider networks and those who may be interested.

Location: JZ Young LT, Medical Anatomy Building

Host: Adam Rutherford (Please email Adam if you would like a one to one with Ewan.)
 

Abstract:

Since the early 1900s it has been clear that variation of phenotypes in living organisms is due to variation in both the environment and in genetics, and in the 1930s much of the foundational work of how to statistically model this was created. Remarkably we continue to use these linear, additive statistical models to this day, and yet questions such as scale and importance of non-linear and interaction terms between genetics and the environment remain. I will present two pieces of work from my research group that tackle this problem using both modern AI methods and more long standing statistical genetics approaches. I will use both human cohort data, with the advantages of scale and depth of phenotyping, and a deliberately bred Japanese rice paddy fish (medaka) cohort, with the advantages of full control of both genetics and the environment in this model. I will show that these complex interactions occur, are substantial, but thankfully can largely be tackled for discovery by sample size. However there remains substantial uncertainty about the downstream interpretation and usage of simpler, linear approximations to genetic and environmental modelling given this non-linear reality, a distinct hesitancy in embracing joint genetic and environmental studies and a large opportunity in a more holistic view of phenotype modelling across life, including in humans.