Mendelian randomization: genetic anchors for causal inference in epidemiological studies

Observational epidemiological studies are prone to confounding, reverse causation and various biases and have generated findings that have proved to be unreliable indicators of the causal effects of modifiable exposures on disease outcomes. Mendelian randomization (MR) is a method that utilizes genetic variants that are robustly associated with such modifiable exposures to generate more reliable evidence regarding which interventions should produce health benefits. The approach is being widely applied, and various ways to strengthen inference given the known potential limitations of MR are now available. Developments of MR, including two-sample MR, bidirectional MR, network MR, two-step MR, factorial MR and…

• UO
  University of Bristol

  Awards: MC_UU_12013/1, MC_UU_12013/1-9
• MR
  Medical Research Council

  Awards: MC_UU_12013, MC_UU_12013/1-9, MC_UU_12013/1