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Unnur Styrkarsdottir and Kari Stefansson and colleagues report the results of an expanded genome-wide association study for bone mineral density at the hip or the spine. New SNP associations were identified downstream of the SOST gene on 17q21, and in intron 1 of the MARK3 gene on 14q32.

Bone mineral density (BMD) is the best predictor of osteoporotic fracture risk. Here, the authors perform a genome wide association study in Icelanders and people of European and East-Asian descent, and identify a new allele in intron 15 of the PTCH1gene that associates with reduced BMD.

Kari Stefansson, Unnur Styrkarsdottir and colleagues identify rare genotypes in COMP and CHADL associated with high risk of total hip replacement due to osteoarthritis. The high odds ratios associated with these rare risk genotypes suggest that they may represent Mendelian forms of osteoarthritis.

Bone mineral density (BMD) is associated with fracture risk and many genetic loci with small effect sizes have been discovered by genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Here, the authors discover a large-effect rare loss-of-function genetic variant for BMD in the MEPE gene in the Norwegian HUNT study which replicates in the UK Biobank.

Size and shape of bones are important for height and body shape. Here, Styrkarsdottir et al identify 12 loci in a GWAS for bone area derived from DXA scans and show that these loci associate with other bone-related phenotypes including osteoarthritis, height, bone mineral density and risk of hip fracture.

Little is known about the biology of back pain, a leading cause of disability. Here the authors report 30 new back pain loci, implicating genes involved in cartilage/bone biology, as well as neurological and inflammatory processes.

Fernando Rivadeneira and colleagues in the Genetic Factors for Osteoporosis Consortium report a large-scale meta-analysis identifying new loci associated with bone mineral density (BMD) and risk of fracture. Thirty-two new loci are found to be associated with BMD, and 6 loci confer higher risk for low-trauma bone fracture.

Understanding the underlying pathophysiology of obesity can help prevent this condition. Here, the authors perform a GWAS of BMI in diverse ancestries, finding four missense variants in FRS3 that affect BMI.

Genome-wide analyses identify 43 loci associated with forearm fracture, including some influencing bone quality parameters. Follow-up work shows that Tac4 knockout mice exhibit reduced mechanical bone strength with no effect on bone mineral density.

BMI contributes to various diseases, but it was unclear whether the risk was mediated by BMI itself. Here, the authors demonstrate that BMI mediates most of this risk, and suggest an upper bound on disease risk that can be mitigated by lowering BMI.

Hundreds of genetic loci associated with age at menopause, combined with experimental evidence in mice, highlight mechanisms of reproductive ageing across the lifespan.

Genome-wide association meta-analysis of data sets from Iceland and the UK identifies 16 new risk loci for osteoarthritis, including missense variants in SMO, IL11, and COL11A1.

Kari Stefansson and colleagues performed a genome-wide association study for severe hand osteoarthritis and found associated variants within the ALDH1A2 gene and at 1p31.

Patrick Sulem and colleagues report a genome-wide association study of age at menarche, finding and replicating an association with LIN28B. The authors test a number of variants previously associated with height and BMI and find that five loci previously associated with BMI are also associated with age at menarche.

Analysis of whole-genome sequence data of Icelandic individuals has revealed a rare nonsense mutation within the LGR4 gene that is strongly associated with, among other things, low bone mineral density, late onset of menarche, and increased risk of biliary tract cancer.

Diagnosis and classification of peripheral neuropathy (PN) is facilitated by nerve conduction (NC) studies. Here, Bjornsdottir et al. find a low-frequency PRPH splice-donor variant that associates with NC amplitude and neurological assessment of recalled PRPH variant carriers reveals increased risk of a mild sensory-negative PN.

Lean body mass is a highly heritable trait and is associated with various health conditions. Here, Kiel and colleagues perform a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for whole body lean body mass and find five novel genetic loci to be significantly associated.

This paper describes the largest genome-wide association study to date on polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common reproductive disorder in women. Six genetic loci—including known targets of cancer chemotherapy—were identified, and the authors infer causal and balancing selection mechanisms involved in PCOS risk and susceptibility.

Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) can cause persistent sciatica, and in some cases surgery is required to relieve symptoms. Here, the authors carry out a genome-wide association study using microdiscectomy as an indicator of severe LDH, and find a locus on chromosome 8 associated with this condition.

To measure selection on variants, whole-genome sequencing of approximately 150,000 individuals from the UK Biobank is used to rank sequence variants by their level of depletion.

The corneal endothelium is crucial for proper vision. Here, Ivarsdottir et al. perform genome-wide association studies for various corneal endothelial cell measurements and find that an intergenic variant near ANAPC1 explains 24% of the variance of endothelial cell density and associates with corneal hysteresis.

Genome-wide association study for osteoarthritis using data from UK Biobank identifies loci for knee- and hip-specific disease. Functional analyses of chondrocytes provide further insight into candidate causal genes.

Kathryn Lunetta and colleagues report a meta-analysis of 22 genome-wide association studies for age at menopause. They identify 13 loci newly associated with age at natural menopause, including several candidate genes with roles in DNA repair and immune function.

In this paper gene expression is treated as a quantitative trait in both blood and adipose tissue, and associations between specific genetic loci and body mass index are identified using a molecular network approach.

Gudmar Thorleifsson and colleagues report results of a large-scale genome-wide association and replication study for obesity-related traits. The newly discovered loci are enriched for genes expressed in the central nervous system, and may thus contribute to weight gain by modulating food intake. Similar results are reported in a related study by Joel Hirschhorn and colleagues.

Ruth Loos and colleagues use genome-wide association to identify common variants influencing body fat percentage. Unexpectedly, they show that a body-fat–decreasing allele near IRS1 is associated with an impaired metabolic profile, including increased risk of type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease.

Uterine leiomyomas are common benign tumors. Here, a meta-analysis of two European leiomyoma GWAS uncovers 21 leiomyoma risk variants at 16 loci, providing evidence of genetic overlap between leiomyoma and various benign and malignant tumors and highlighting the role of estrogen in tumor growth.

Bjarni Halldorsson, Kari Stefansson and colleagues use SNP array and whole-genome sequencing data to estimate the meiotic gene conversion rate (G) in humans. They find that G for SNPs is 7.0 conversions/Mb per generation, is 2.17 greater in mothers than in fathers, and increases with maternal age.

A genome-wide association study meta-analysis combined with multiomics data of osteoarthritis identifies 700 effector genes as well as biological processes with a convergent involvement of multiple effector genes; 10% of these genes express the target of approved drugs.

Human population genomic studies, including whole‐genome sequencing, were undertaken to identify determinants of bone mineral density (BMD), a major predictor of osteoporotic fractures. Non‐coding variants with large effects on BMD and fractures were identified near the EN1 locus and mouse studies confirmed this gene has an important role in skeletal biology.

A study reports whole-genome sequences for 490,640 participants from the UK Biobank and combines these data with phenotypic data to provide new insights into the relationship between human variation and sequence variation.

Analyses focusing on protein-truncating variants from 106,973 women from in the UK Biobank identify variants in genes that reinforce the link between reproductive lifespan in women and cancer risk in both sexes.

Fernando Rivadeneira and colleagues report findings from a large-scale meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for bone mineral density. The loci identified in this study map to genes in signaling pathways relevant to bone metabolism and highlight the complex genetic architecture underlying osteoporosis.

Gudmar Thorleifsson and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for kidney stones. They report common variants in CLDN14 associated with increased risk of kidney stone disease.

Genome-wide analysis of age at menopause under a recessive model identifies a stop-gain variant in CCDC201 associated with primary ovarian insufficiency. This homozygous genotype is present in 1 in 10,000 women of northern European ancestry.

Thorhildur Olafsdottir et al. report a genome-wide association study of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in a total of 15,010 cases and 340,734 controls from Iceland and the UK. They identify 8 sequence variants at 7 loci associated with POP that highlight the role of connective tissue metabolism and estrogen in POP.

Hand grip strength as a proxy of muscular fitness is a clinical predictor of mortality and morbidity. In a large-scale GWA study, the authors find 16 robustly associated genetic loci that highlight roles in muscle fibre structure and function, neuronal maintenance and nervous system signal transduction.

A skull bone mineral density genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies 59 loci and studies in zebrafish evidence the role of ZIC1, ATP6V1C1 and PRKAR1A in mineralization of the skull, and of the former two genes in cranial suture patterning.