WAGE ADSP Data Analysis

The “Watson Alzheimer’s Genetics Experiment (WAGE) is a collaboration between IBM TJ Watson Research Center, the Center for Genomics of Alzheimer’s Disease (CGAD U54 AG052427) and AD geneticists at the University of Pennsylvania, Indiana University, Columbia University, and Indiana University (Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative [ADNI]). We plan to analyze whole genome sequence data generated from subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and elderly normal controls obtained from “R3 17K WGS Project Level VCF” and “phenotypes/pedigree for all subjects”. These data were generated by the National Human Genome Institute Large-Scale Sequence Program, the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, and National Institute on Aging funded investigators. The goal of the planned analyses is to identify genes that have alleles that protect against or increase susceptibility to AD. We will examine both single nucleotide variants and structural variants (indels, deletions, insertions, etc). We will use whole genome sequence data for AD cases from the Alzheimer’s Disease Sequence Project. We will use control data from the Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP) and ADNI.

We seek to understand what machine learning algorithms can tell us about Alzheimer’s disease, and are applying machine learning algorithms to all the inherited elements that contribute to Alzheimer's disease risk, and characterizing their statistical power to resolve GW significant alleles. To do this we will analyze DNA sequence data from subjects with Alzheimer's disease and elderly subjects who are cognitively normal. The sequence data from these 2 groups will be compared to identify differences that contribute to the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease of that protect against Alzheimer's disease. These DNA differences can be at a single site in the genetic code, or can span multiple sites, changing the copy number of DNA sequences. Both types of genetic variants will be examined.