Nicholas J. Timpson

TL;DR: This study has demonstrated that careful use of a shared control group represents a safe and effective approach to GWA analyses of multiple disease phenotypes; generated a genome-wide genotype database for future studies of common diseases in the British population; and shown that, provided individuals with non-European ancestry are excluded, the extent of population stratification in theBritish population is generally modest.

TL;DR: A genome-wide search for type 2 diabetes–susceptibility genes identified a common variant in the FTO (fat mass and obesity associated) gene that predisposes to diabetes through an effect on body mass index (BMI).

TL;DR: Genetic loci associated with body mass index map near key hypothalamic regulators of energy balance, and one of these loci is near GIPR, an incretin receptor, which may provide new insights into human body weight regulation.

TL;DR: MR-Base is a platform that integrates a curated database of complete GWAS results (no restrictions according to statistical significance) with an application programming interface, web app and R packages that automate 2SMR, and includes several sensitivity analyses for assessing the impact of horizontal pleiotropy and other violations of assumptions.

TL;DR: The use of germline genetic variants that proxy for environmentally modifiable exposures as instruments for these exposures is one form of IV analysis that can be implemented within observational epidemiological studies and can be considered as analogous to randomized controlled trials.