Expression data for 2 obese subjects from the SibPair cohort with a deletion on 16p11.2

We report a highly-penetrant form of obesity, initially observed in 31 heterozygous carriers of a 593kb or larger deletion at 16p11.2 from amongst subjects ascertained for cognitive deficits. Nineteen similar deletions were identified from GWAS data in 16053 individuals from 8 European cohorts; such deletions was absent from healthy non-obese controls and accounted for 0.7% of our morbid obesity cases (p = 6.4x10-8, OR = 43). These findings highlight a promising strategy for identifying missing heritability in obesity and other complex traits, in which insights from rare extreme cases can be used to elucidate the basis for more common phenotypes.

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Walters RG, Jacquemont S, Valsesia A, de Smith AJ, Martinet D, Andersson J, Falchi M, Chen F, Andrieux J, Lobbens S, Delobel B, Stutzmann F, El-Sayed Moustafa JS, Chèvre JC, Lecoeur C, Vatin V, Bouquillon S, Buxton JL, Boute O, Holder-Espinasse M, Cuisset JM, Lemaitre MP, Ambresin AE, Brioschi A, Gaillard M, Giusti V, Fellmann F, Ferrarini A, Hadjikhani N, Campion D, Guilmatre A, Goldenberg A, Calmels N, Mandel JL, Le Caignec C, David A, Isidor B, Cordier MP, Dupuis-Girod S, Labalme A, Sanlaville D, Béri-Dexheimer M, Jonveaux P, Leheup B, Ounap K, Bochukova EG, Henning E, Keogh J, Ellis RJ, Macdermot KD, van Haelst MM, Vincent-Delorme C, Plessis G, Touraine R, Philippe A, Malan V, Mathieu-Dramard M, Chiesa J, Blaumeiser B, Kooy RF, Caiazzo R, Pigeyre M, Balkau B, Sladek R, Bergmann S, Mooser V, Waterworth D, Reymond A, Vollenweider P, Waeber G, Kurg A, Palta P, Esko T, Metspalu A, Nelis M, Elliott P, Hartikainen AL, McCarthy MI, Peltonen L, Carlsson L, Jacobson P, Sjöström L, Huang N, Hurles ME, O'Rahilly S, Farooqi IS, Männik K, Jarvelin MR, Pattou F, Meyre D, Walley AJ, Coin LJ, Blakemore AI, Froguel P, Beckmann JS