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Culture and causal inference: The impact of cultural differences on the generalisability of findings from Mendelian randomisation studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2022

Amy Campbell Open the ORCID record for Amy Campbell [Opens in a new window] ,
Marcus R. Munafò Open the ORCID record for Marcus R. Munafò [Opens in a new window] ,
Hannah M. Sallis Open the ORCID record for Hannah M. Sallis [Opens in a new window] ,
Rebecca M. Pearson Open the ORCID record for Rebecca M. Pearson [Opens in a new window]  and
Daniel Smith Open the ORCID record for Daniel Smith [Opens in a new window]
Amy Campbell
Affiliation:
MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2BN, UKamy.campbell@bristol.ac.uk School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TU, UKmarcus.munafo@bristol.ac.uk
Marcus R. Munafò
Affiliation:
MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2BN, UKamy.campbell@bristol.ac.uk School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TU, UKmarcus.munafo@bristol.ac.uk
Hannah M. Sallis
Affiliation:
MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2BN, UKamy.campbell@bristol.ac.uk School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TU, UKmarcus.munafo@bristol.ac.uk Centre for Academic Mental Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2BN, UKhannah.sallis@bristol.ac.uk
Rebecca M. Pearson
Affiliation:
Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2BN, UK Faculty of Health, Psychology & Social Care, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M15 6GX, UKr.pearson@mmu.ac.uk
Daniel Smith
Affiliation:
MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2BN, UKamy.campbell@bristol.ac.uk Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2BN, UK.dan.smith@bristol.ac.uk
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Abstract

Cultural effects can influence the results of causal genetic analyses, such as Mendelian randomisation, but the potential influences of culture on genotype–phenotype associations are not currently well understood. Different genetic variants could be associated with different phenotypes in different populations, or culture could confound or influence the direction of the association between genotypes and phenotypes in different populations.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 45 , 2022 , e158
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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