Genetics

This blog post examines a Brain Communications study assessing whether a polygenic risk score (PRS) for multiple sclerosis, developed using predominantly European genetic data, can predict disease risk in individuals of South Asian ancestry. It summarizes the study’s rationale, cohort design, analytical methods, and key findings, highlighting that the PRS retained measurable but attenuated predictive value in the Genes & Health cohort compared with UK Biobank participants of European ancestry. The discussion emphasizes the implications for genetic risk prediction, equity in precision medicine, and the need for larger multi-ancestry datasets to improve PRS portability and clinical utility.