Author: saralindstedt

Christian and Olly recently participated in the World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG) in Montreal.

Rücklab closely collaborates with Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) within genetics of depression, anxiety disorders, OCD, suicide and ICBT treatment response. This year, Christian and Olly presented two posters highlighting their ongoing work in prediction of ICBT treatment outcome where polygenic risk scores are used as one of potential predictors.

Here are some take away-points from the conference by Olly:

• Larger sample sizes: Sample sizes are becoming larger, increasing the number of identified genetic risk variants associated with liability to psychiatric disorders. Multiple biobanks and clinical research groups combine their data with direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies, such as 23andMe, to generate and metaanalyze large case/control samples (n > 1 million) 
• The need for more globally inclusive samples: The focus is now on increasing cross-population samples as European ancestry has been so far disproportionately overrepresented in the studies, hindering progress and more importantly, putting most of the global population at a disadvantage in terms of new health-related discoveries and potentially further widening health disparities.
• Discoveries through non-western samples: PGC has a working group dedicated to cross-population analyses that has shown some advances in increasing data sourcing from African, East Asian and Hispanic ancestries. In one talk, it was demonstrated that Africa alone has over 3000 distinct genetic groups and some drug discoveries would be impossible without their data.
• Whole-genome studies become more accessible: It appears that as sequencing is becoming more affordable, whole-exome and whole-genome analyses will take over the most widely used genome-wide association studies which are cheap and accessible but limited to common genetic variants.
• Societal and clinical implications of genetic testing: Finally, there were many important discussions on the future and ethics of direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Scientific community realises its role in elevating public awareness of what these data can and cannot tell and how they can be acted on. There are many  potentially dangerous misinterpretation of e.g. polygenic risk scores versus absolute/relative risk.