Integrative Approaches to Identifying Function and Significance of Adiposity Susceptibility Genes
In 2019, ~100 million Americans were obese, fueling increases in obesity-related morbidity, mortality, and health care costs, largely from cardiometabolic diseases (CMD). GWAS have demonstrated the fundamental role of genetic susceptibility in obesity risk, including the >1000 loci identified to date. Each GWAS-identified locus potentially provides novel biologic insight; yet the identification of the functional variants, genes, and underlying pathways at these loci has limited translation for precision medicine. OMICs (e.g. genetics, transcriptOMICs, methylOMICs, and metabolOMICs) lie along pathways linking genetic susceptibility to obesity and are emerging as powerful disease biomarkers that provide targetable “mechanistic bridges” linking GWAS findings with obesity risk. OMIC scans in the same individuals in which obesity associated loci discoveries were made are now available,