INVITED AND SPECIAL SESSIONS
Wednesday, October 26
8:00 PM-10:00 PM
Concurrent Invited Sessions I (12-18)
SESSION 14 - Maternal Genetic Effects
Hall 3
Moderator: Laura E. Mitchell, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, Houston
The risk of birth defects and other conditions that have their origins during embryogenesis or fetal development may be influenced by the inherited genotype and also by the in utero environment, which is determined by both the maternal environment and the maternal genotype. Understanding the separate, joint and possibly synergistic effects of the two relevant genotypes is important for understanding disease etiology and potentially for recurrence risk counseling. Given the correlation between maternal and offspring genotypes, differentiating between inherited and maternal genetic effects is not straightforward. However, failure to account for maternal genetic effects can result in biased estimates of the association between the inherited genotype and disease risk. Although there are now several approaches that can be used to assess the role of the maternal and the inherited genotype in the etiology of a disease, these approaches have not been widely applied. This session will include background information supporting the importance of maternal genetic effects in disease etiology, overviews of both family-based and case-control based methods that can be used to distinguish between maternal and inherited genetic effects, and examples of the application of these methods.
8:00 PM Introduction. Laura E. Mitchell.
8:10 PM Case-control versus family-based approaches for evaluating maternal genetic effects. Jacqueline R. Starr, University of Washington, Seattle.
8:30 PM Family-based and hybrid approaches for evaluating imprinting and maternal genetic effects. Clarice R. Weinberg, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC.
8:50 PM Maternal-fetal genetic incompatibilities. Janet S. Sinsheimer, University of California School of Medicine, Los Angeles.
9:10 PM Maternal genetic effects influencing the risk of neural tube defects. Laura E. Mitchell.
9:30 PM Evaluation of maternal genetic effects influencing the risk of nonsyndromic cleft lip. Jeffrey C. Murray, University of Iowa, Iowa City.
