Mining human genomes for genetic interactions underlying disease with Dr. Chad Myers

The recent availability of genome sequences has enabled genome-wide association studies, which attempt to link specific genetic variants to disease. While these studies have produced a number of new candidate genetic loci, most still fail to explain the large majority of heritability associated with common diseases. One explanation is the presence of genetic interactions, or instances where multiple variants combine to cause disease. I will describe our recent efforts to develop computational methods to address this problem. Our work leverages a decade of experiments and data mining of the yeast model organism, where genome editing on a massive scale has been possible for many years. I will describe our efforts to translate insights about genetic interactions from this model system to develop new approaches for interpreting human genomes.