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Health and genetic ancestry testing: time to bridge the gap

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Medical Genomics, January 2017
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (90th percentile)
  • Good Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (73rd percentile)

Mentioned by

news
1 news outlet
twitter
13 X users

Citations

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20 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
92 Mendeley
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1 CiteULike
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Title
Health and genetic ancestry testing: time to bridge the gap
Published in
BMC Medical Genomics, January 2017
DOI 10.1186/s12920-016-0240-3
Pubmed ID
Authors

Andrew Smart, Deborah A. Bolnick, Richard Tutton

Abstract

It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep information about genetic ancestry separate from information about health, and consumers of genetic ancestry tests are becoming more aware of the potential health risks associated with particular ancestral lineages. Because some of the proposed associations have received little attention from oversight agencies and professional genetic associations, scientific developments are currently outpacing governance regimes for consumer genetic testing. We highlight the recent and unremarked upon emergence of biomedical studies linking markers of genetic ancestry to disease risks, and show that this body of scientific research is becoming part of public discourse connecting ancestry and health. For instance, data on genome-wide ancestry informative markers are being used to assess health risks, and we document over 100 biomedical research articles that propose associations between mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome markers of genetic ancestry and a wide variety of disease risks. Taking as an example an association between coronary heart disease and British men belonging to Y chromosome haplogroup I, we show how this science was translated into mainstream and online media, and how it circulates among consumers of genetic tests for ancestry. We find wide variations in how the science is interpreted, which suggests the potential for confusion or misunderstanding. We recommend that stakeholders involved in creating and using estimates of genetic ancestry reconsider their policies for communicating with each other and with the public about the health implications of ancestry information.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 13 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 92 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United States 1 1%
Unknown 91 99%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 21 23%
Student > Bachelor 18 20%
Student > Master 12 13%
Student > Ph. D. Student 10 11%
Other 7 8%
Other 9 10%
Unknown 15 16%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 19 21%
Social Sciences 12 13%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 11 12%
Medicine and Dentistry 8 9%
Nursing and Health Professions 3 3%
Other 20 22%
Unknown 19 21%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 17. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 15 November 2021.
All research outputs
#2,057,930
of 24,715,720 outputs
Outputs from BMC Medical Genomics
#59
of 1,347 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#42,157
of 431,275 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Medical Genomics
#5
of 15 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,715,720 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 91st percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,347 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.6. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 431,275 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 90% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 15 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 73% of its contemporaries.