Global Biobank Meta-analysis Initiative: Powering genetic discovery across human disease
The Global Biobank Meta-analysis Initiative is a collaborative network of 23 biobanks, representing more than 2.2M consented participants with genetic data linked to electronic health records. This collaborative effort will improve genome-wide association studies’ power for diseases, benefit understudied diseases, and improve risk prediction.
Identification of human mitochondrial RNA cleavage sites and candidate RNA processing factors
Researchers created a technique to find and measure specific RNA cutting events among 799 CARTaGENE participants and samples from the GTEx project. They uncovered new sites where RNA is cut during mitochondrial processing and discovered genes linked to these processes, shedding light on how genetic variations might affect mitochondrial functions and health conditions.
Analysis of mitochondrial m1A/G RNA modification reveals links to nuclear genetic variants and associated disease processes
The study identified links between mitochondrial RNA modification levels and genetic variants in the nuclear genome, including a missense mutation in LONP1, and found that genetic variants within MRPP3 and TRMT61B are associated with RNA modification levels across a large number of tissues.
Nuclear genetic regulation of the human mitochondrial transcriptome
They analyzed more than 11000 RNA sequencing libraries across 36 tissue/cell types and they found considerable variation in mitochondrial gene expression along the transcriptome. This was also looked at tissues and inviduals and highlighted the importance of cell-type specific and post transcriptional processes in shaping mitochondrial-encoded RNA levels.
A haplotype-based normalization technique for the analysis and detection of allele specific expression
The research team examined allele specific expression which can be an identifier for disease loci. They were able to sequence exomes from CARTaGENE cohort and find a significant association between the proportion of sites undergoing ASE within the genome and smoking.