Multi-Ancestry Tandem Repeat Association Study of Hair Color Using Exome-Wide Sequencing

February 2024 in “ bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) ”

Victoria Fazzari, Ashley Moo-Choy, Mary Anne Panoyan, Cristina Abbatangelo, Renato Polimanti, Nicole M.M. Novroski, Frank R. Wendt

tandem repeats TRs single nucleotide polymorphisms SNPs amino acid coding regions protein structure polygenic score

TLDR Tandem repeats significantly influence hair color, especially darker shades, across different ancestries.

This study investigates the genetic basis of hair color by focusing on tandem repeats (TRs) rather than the more commonly studied single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Researchers identified 16 TRs that affect hair color and two TRs associated with hair color across diverse ancestry groups. These TRs can alter amino acid coding regions, potentially impacting protein structure and function. The study also shows that TRs can independently predict darker hair color through an additive polygenic score, highlighting their significant influence on human traits compared to SNPs.

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Research cited in this study

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Multi-Ancestry Tandem Repeat Association Study of Hair Color Using Exome-Wide Sequencing

Research cited in this study

research Genome-Wide Association Meta-Analysis of Individuals of European Ancestry Identifies New Loci Explaining a Substantial Fraction of Hair Color Variation and Heritability

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