Risk factors articles within Nature

Featured

  • Letter |

    Increased maternal age is known to increase the risk of congenital heart disease in offspring; here, this link is investigated by transplanting ovaries between young and old mice, revealing that the maternal-age-associated risk is independent of the age of the ovaries but depends on the age of the mother, and that this risk can be mitigated by maternal genetic background or exercise.

    • Claire E. Schulkey
    • , Suk D. Regmi
    •  & Patrick Y. Jay

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The African Genome Variation Project contains the whole-genome sequences of 320 individuals and dense genotypes on 1,481 individuals from sub-Saharan Africa; it enables the design and interpretation of genomic studies, with implications for finding disease loci and clues to human origins.

    • Deepti Gurdasani
    • , Tommy Carstensen
    •  & Manjinder S. Sandhu

  • Article |

    As incomes grow, diets change, with varying impacts on human health and the environment; here the links are examined and suggestions made for diets that both improve health and minimize environmental impacts.

    • David Tilman
    •  & Michael Clark

  • Letter |

    For the first time under reproducible and fully double-blinded conditions, it is shown that anthropogenic electromagnetic noise below the WHO limits affects a biological system: night-migrating birds lose the ability to use the Earth’s magnetic field for orientation when exposed to anthropogenic electromagnetic noise at strengths routinely produced by commonly used electronic devices.

    • Svenja Engels
    • , Nils-Lasse Schneider
    •  & Henrik Mouritsen

  • Article |

    The authors report the largest family-trio exome sequencing study of schizophrenia to date; mutations are overrepresented in genes for glutamatergic synaptic proteins and also genes mutated in autism and intellectual disability, providing insights into aetiological mechanisms and pathopshyisology shared with other neurodevelopmental disorders.

    • Menachem Fromer
    • , Andrew J. Pocklington
    •  & Michael C. O’Donovan

  • Article |

    Exome sequence analysis of more than 5,000 schizophrenia cases and controls identifies a polygenic burden primarily arising from rare, disruptive mutations distributed across many genes, among which are those encoding voltage-gated calcium ion channels and the signalling complex formed by the ARC protein of the postsynaptic density; as in autism, mutations were also found in homologues of known targets of the fragile X mental retardation protein.

    • Shaun M. Purcell
    • , Jennifer L. Moran
    •  & Pamela Sklar

  • Article |

    Whole-genome sequencing of 78 Icelandic parent–offspring trios is used to study the de novo mutation rate at the genome-wide level; the rate is shown to increase by about two mutations a year as a function of the increasing age of the father at conception, highlighting the importance of father’s age on the risk of diseases such as autism and schizophrenia.

    • Augustine Kong
    • , Michael L. Frigge
    •  & Kari Stefansson

  • Outlook |

    Researchers have plenty of theories about what might cause multiple sclerosis. But for now, the factor that triggers the disease remains elusive.

    • Lauren Gravitz

  • Comment |

    Added sweeteners pose dangers to health that justify controlling them like alcohol, argue Robert H. Lustig, Laura A. Schmidt and Claire D. Brindis.

    • Robert H. Lustig
    • , Laura A. Schmidt
    •  & Claire D. Brindis

  • Outlook |

    Multiple myeloma begins with a benign condition before progression to full-blown cancer, and work is underway to uncover the origins of both.

    • Cynthia Graber

  • News Feature |

    Shifting diagnoses and heightened awareness explain only part of the apparent rise in autism. Scientists are struggling to explain the rest.

    • Karen Weintraub

  • News & Views |

    With the spread of fast-food outlets and more sedentary lifestyles, the prevalence of diabetes in India is rising alarmingly. But the subpopulations at risk and the symptoms of the disease differ from those in the West.

    • Jared Diamond

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