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Genome-wide association meta-analysis of human olfactory identification discovers sex-specific and sex-differential genetic variants

Author

Listed:
  • Franz Förster

    (Leipzig University
    Institute of Molecular Biology gGmbH (IMB))

  • David Emmert

    (Eurac Research)

  • Katrin Horn

    (Leipzig University)

  • Janne Pott

    (Leipzig University
    MRC Biostatistics Unit)

  • Johannes Frasnelli

    (Eurac Research
    Trois-Rivières)

  • Mohammed Aslam Imtiaz

    (Population Health Sciences)

  • Konstantinos Melas

    (Population Health Sciences)

  • Valentina Talevi

    (Population Health Sciences)

  • Honglei Chen

    (Michigan State University)

  • Christoph Engel

    (Leipzig University
    Leipzig University)

  • Michele Filosi

    (Eurac Research)

  • Myriam Fornage

    (University of Texas Health Science at Houston
    University of Texas Health Science at Houston)

  • Martin Gögele

    (Eurac Research)

  • Markus Löffler

    (Leipzig University
    Leipzig University)

  • Thomas H. Mosley

    (University of Mississippi Medical Center)

  • Cristian Pattaro

    (Eurac Research)

  • Peter Pramstaller

    (Eurac Research)

  • Srishti Shrestha

    (University of Mississippi Medical Center)

  • N. Ahmad Aziz

    (Population Health Sciences
    University of Bonn)

  • Monique M. B. Breteler

    (Population Health Sciences
    University of Bonn)

  • Kerstin Wirkner

    (Leipzig University)

  • Markus Scholz

    (Leipzig University
    Leipzig University)

  • Christian Fuchsberger

    (Eurac Research)

Abstract

Smelling is a human sense, expressing strong sexual dimorphisms. We aim to improve the knowledge of the genetics of human olfactory perception by performing an exploratory genome-wide association meta-analysis of up to 21,495 individuals of European ancestry. By sex-stratified and overall analysis of the identification of twelve odours and an identification score, we discovered ten independent loci, seven of them novel, with trait-wise genome-wide significance (p

Suggested Citation

  • Franz Förster & David Emmert & Katrin Horn & Janne Pott & Johannes Frasnelli & Mohammed Aslam Imtiaz & Konstantinos Melas & Valentina Talevi & Honglei Chen & Christoph Engel & Michele Filosi & Myriam , 2025. "Genome-wide association meta-analysis of human olfactory identification discovers sex-specific and sex-differential genetic variants," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-61330-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61330-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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