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Genome-wide association study and the randomized controlled trial: A false equivalence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 September 2023

Paul Siegel*
Affiliation:
School of Natural and Social Sciences, Purchase College, State University of New York, Purchase, NY, USA paul.siegel@purchase.edu https://www.purchase.edu/live/profiles/671-paul-siegel

Abstract

Madole & Harden's assertion that the effects derived from within-family genome-wide association studies (GWASs) and from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are equivalent is misleading. GWASs are substantially more “non-unitary, non-uniform, and non-explanatory” than RCTs. While the within-family GWAS bring us closer to identifying genetic causes, whether it will change behavioral genetics into a causal science is an open question.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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