Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41592569›Full record

ReviewCell genomics2026

Polygenic backgrounds influence phenotypic consequences of variants in cells, individuals, and populations.

Madison Chapel, Jessica Dennis, Carl G de Boer

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Cell genomics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Madison ChapelBioinformatics Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Jessica DennisBioinformatics Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Carl G de BoerBioinformatics Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Electronic address: carl.deboer@ubc.ca.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Both rare and common genetic variants contribute to human disease, and emerging evidence suggests that they combine additively to influence disease liability. However, the non-linear relationship between disease liability and disease prevalence means that risk variants may have more severe phenotypic consequences in high-risk polygenic backgrounds and minimal impact in low-risk backgrounds, resulting in uneven selection across the population. As a result, selection coefficients may be better modeled as distributions that differ across populations, time, environments, and individuals than as single values. As the number of genes contributing to a trait and epistasis between alleles increases, so does phenotypic variance, pushing more individuals to extreme phenotypes and enhancing negative selection. Because disease-relevant phenotypes may be masked in certain genetic backgrounds, we argue that the polygenic background should be considered when designing experiments to characterize the molecular underpinnings of complex traits.

Indexed as

Genetic VariationMultifactorial InheritanceGenetic Predisposition to DiseaseGenetic Risk ScoreHumansPhenotypeSelection, Genetic

Identifiers

PMID41592569
PMCPMC12903375

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.