A genetic analytics approach for risk variant identification to support intervention strategies for people susceptible to polygenic obesity and overweight

Abstract

Obesity is a growing epidemic that has increased steadily over the past several decades. It affects significant parts of the global population and this has resulted in obesity being high on the political agenda in many countries. It represents one of the most difficult clinical and public health challenges worldwide. While eating healthy and exercising regularly are obvious ways to combat obesity, there is a need to understand the underlying genetic constructs and pathways that lead to the manifestation of obesity and their susceptibility metrics in specific individuals. In particular, the interpretation of genetic profiles will allow for the identification of Deoxyribonucleic Acid variations, known as Single Nucleotide Polymorphism, associated with traits directly linked to obesity and validated with Genome-Wide Association Studies. Using a robust data science methodology, this paper uses a subset of the TwinsUK dataset that contains genetic data from extremely obese individuals with a BMI ≥ 40, to identify significant obesity traits for potential use in genetic screening for disease risk prediction. The paper posits an approach for methodical risk variant identification to support intervention strategies that will help mitigate long-term adverse health outcomes in people susceptible to obesity and overweight.