Question

A recently publicized Genome-wide association study revealed that having two copies of a SNP called rs58267125 increases the risk of a heart attack by 40%. In other words, the risk of a heart attack is increased by 1.4 times. A male that is not obese and does not smoke has a 5% lifetime risk of a heart attack. What is the actual risk of an otherwise healthy person that is homozygous for the rs58267125 allele?

a) 2%
b) 7%
c) 5%
d) 12%

Answer 1

The actual risk of a heart attack for an otherwise healthy person who is homozygous for the rs58267125 allele, which increases the risk by 40%, is b) 7% when the original risk is 5%.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question asks about calculating the actual risk of a heart attack for a person who is homozygous for a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) known as rs58267125, which increases the risk by 40%.

Given that a non-obese, non-smoker male has a 5% lifetime risk, the risk for someone with two copies of this SNP can be found by multiplying the base risk by the increased risk factor. To calculate:

• Original risk = 5%
• Increase in risk due to rs58267125 = 40%
• Actual risk = Original risk × (1 + Increase factor)
• Actual risk = 5% × (1 + 0.40)
• Actual risk = 5% × 1.40
• Actual risk = 7%

Therefore, the actual risk of an otherwise healthy person homozygous for the rs58267125 allele is b) 7%.