Acknowledging Lack of Inclusion in Genetic Analyses

To the Editor Martin et al estimate that “~79% of all [genome-wide association study] participants are of European descent despite making up only 16% of the global population.” In a recent issue of this journal, Allesøe and colleagues sought to combine genetic data with Danish Nationwide Register information towards prediction of ment al health outcomes. The authors stated that in their processing of genotype data, “…quality control included the removal of individuals of non-European descent and related individuals with the remaining individuals serving as our full study cohort.” It is perpetually disheartening that there a re such limited data on non-European populations, but for the authors to describe removal of individuals of non-European descent from the analysis as quality control is unacceptable.
Source: JAMA Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research