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Science 12 January 2007:
Vol. 315. no. 5809, p. 187
DOI: 10.1126/science.1129763
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Technical Comments

Response to Comments on "A Common Genetic Variant Is Associated with Adult and Childhood Obesity"

Alan Herbert,1* Norman P. Gerry,1 Matthew B. McQueen,2 Iris M. Heid,3,4 Arne Pfeufer,5,6 Thomas Illig,3,4 H.-Erich Wichmann,3,4,7 Thomas Meitinger,5,6 David Hunter,2,8 Frank B. Hu,2,8 Graham Colditz,8 Anke Hinney,9 Johannes Hebebrand,9 Kerstin Koberwitz,5,9 Xiaofeng Zhu,10 Richard Cooper,10 Kristin Ardlie,11 Helen Lyon,12,13,14 Joel N. Hirschhorn,12,13,14 Nan M. Laird,15 Marc E. Lenburg,1 Christoph Lange,15,16 Michael F. Christman1*

Identification of genetic variants affecting complex traits such as obesity is confounded by many types of bias, especially when effect sizes are small. Given our findings of a positive association between rs7566605 and body mass index in four out of five separate samples, a false positive finding cannot be ruled out with certainty but seems unlikely. Meta-analyses of multiple large studies will help refine the estimate of the effects of rs7566605 on body mass index.

1 Department of Genetics and Genomics, Boston University Medical School, E613, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
2 Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
3 Institute of Epidemiology, Gesundheit Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit National Research Center, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
4 KORA Group, GSF National Research Center, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
5 Institute of Human Genetics, GSF National Research Center, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany.
6 Institute of Human Genetics, Technical University Munich, D-81671 Munich, Germany.
7 Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry, and Epidemiology, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.
8 Nurses Health Study, Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 181 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
9 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the University of Duisburg-Essen, D-45147 Essen, Germany.
10 Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153, USA.
11 Genomics Collaborative, SeraCare Life Sciences Inc., Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
12 Program in Genomics and Divisions of Genetics and Endocrinology, Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
13 Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
14 Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
15 Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
16 Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: aherbert{at}bu.edu (A.H.); mfc{at}bu.edu (M.F.C.)

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Evidence of an Influence of a Polymorphism Near the INSIG2 on Weight Loss During a Lifestyle Intervention in Obese Children and Adolescents.
T. Reinehr, A. Hinney, T. T. Nguyen, and J. Hebebrand (2008)
Diabetes 57, 623-626
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