(I was going to make fun of this study but…um… then I noticed it was published in Nature. So…)

Researchers from Children’s Hospital Boston and the Broad Institue -collaborating with scientists from 200 institutions world wide – have “identified hundreds of genetic variants that together account for about 10 percent of the inherited variation of height

among people.”

More from the Children’s press release:

Known as the GIANT (Genetic Investigation of ANthropometric Traits) Consortium, the collaboration pooled data from more than 180,000 individuals, including millions of genetic results from each of 46 separate studies in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia. In the September 29 advance online edition of the journal Nature, the researchers report hundreds of genetic variants associated with height, located in at least 180 different spots in the genome (known as loci).

Here’s a link to the study and a list of the authors and their affiliations. They were not kidding then they said 200 collaborators.

(Despite the long list of authors, this paper didn’t break any records. The recent Ig Nobel Ceremony — an annual spoof of scientific silliness — reminds us that the 1993 Ig Nobel went to the Eric Topol, Rob Califf and their 974 co-authors, for the paper on the GUSTO clotbuster study: …a medical research paper which has one hundred times as many authors as pages. New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 329, no. 10, September 2, 1993, pp. 673-82.)

Hundreds of variants clustered in genomic loci and biological pathways affect human height

Hana Lango Allen1,204, Karol Estrada2,3,4,204, Guillaume Lettre5,6,204, Sonja I. Berndt7,204, Michael N. Weedon1,204, Fernando Rivadeneira2,3,4,204, Cristen J. Willer8, Anne U. Jackson8, Sailaja Vedantam9,10, Soumya Raychaudhuri11,12, Teresa Ferreira13, Andrew R. Wood1, Robert J. Weyant8, Ayellet V. Segrè11,14,15, Elizabeth K. Speliotes10,16, Eleanor Wheeler17, Nicole Soranzo17,18, Ju-Hyun Park7, Jian Yang19, Daniel Gudbjartsson20, Nancy L. Heard-Costa21, Joshua C. Randall13, Lu Qi22,23, Albert Vernon Smith24,25, Reedik Mägi13, Tomi Pastinen26,27,28, Liming Liang29, Iris M. Heid30,31, Jian’an Luan32, Gudmar Thorleifsson20, Thomas W. Winkler30, Michael E. Goddard33,34, Ken Sin Lo5, Cameron Palmer9,10, Tsegaselassie Workalemahu22, Yurii S. Aulchenko2,4, Åsa Johansson35,36, M. Carola Zillikens3, Mary F. Feitosa37, Tõnu Esko38,39,40, Toby Johnson41,42,43,44, Shamika Ketkar37, Peter Kraft45,46, Massimo Mangino18, Inga Prokopenko13,47, Devin Absher48, Eva Albrecht31, Florian Ernst49, Nicole L. Glazer50, Caroline Hayward51, Jouke-Jan Hottenga52, Kevin B. Jacobs53, Joshua W. Knowles54, Zoltán Kutalik41,42, Keri L. Monda55, Ozren Polasek56,57, Michael Preuss58, Nigel W. Rayner13,47, Neil R. Robertson13,47, Valgerdur Steinthorsdottir20, Jonathan P. Tyrer59, Benjamin F. Voight11,14,15, Fredrik Wiklund60, Jianfeng Xu61, Jing Hua Zhao32, Dale R. Nyholt62, Niina Pellikka63,64, Markus Perola63,64, John R. B. Perry1, Ida Surakka63,64, Mari-Liis Tammesoo38, Elizabeth L. Altmaier9,10, Najaf Amin2, Thor Aspelund24,25, Tushar Bhangale65, Gabrielle Boucher5, Daniel I. Chasman66,67, Constance Chen68, Lachlan Coin69, Matthew N. Cooper70, Anna L. Dixon71, Quince Gibson72, Elin Grundberg17,26,27, Ke Hao73, M. Juhani Junttila74, Lee M. Kaplan16,67,75, Johannes Kettunen63,64, Inke R. König58, Tony Kwan26,27, Robert W. Lawrence70, Douglas F. Levinson76, Mattias Lorentzon77, Barbara McKnight78, Andrew P. Morris13, Martina Müller31,79,80, Julius Suh Ngwa81, Shaun Purcell14,82,83, Suzanne Rafelt84, Rany M. Salem9,10, Erika Salvi85,86, Serena Sanna87, Jianxin Shi7, Ulla Sovio69, John R. Thompson88,89, Michael C. Turchin9,10, Liesbeth Vandenput77, Dominique J. Verlaan26,27, Veronique Vitart51, Charles C. White81, Andreas Ziegler90, Peter Almgren91, Anthony J. Balmforth92, Harry Campbell93, Lorena Citterio94, Alessandro De Grandi95, Anna Dominiczak96, Jubao Duan97, Paul Elliott69, Roberto Elosua98, Johan G. Eriksson99,100,101,102,103, Nelson B. Freimer104, Eco J. C. Geus52, Nicola Glorioso105, Shen Haiqing72, Anna-Liisa Hartikainen106, Aki S. Havulinna107, Andrew A. Hicks95, Jennie Hui70,108,109, Wilmar Igl35, Thomas Illig31, Antti Jula110, Eero Kajantie100, Tuomas O. Kilpeläinen32, Markku Koiranen111, Ivana Kolcic56, Seppo Koskinen107, Peter Kovacs112, Jaana Laitinen113, Jianjun Liu114, Marja-Liisa Lokki115, Ana Marusic116, Andrea Maschio87, Thomas Meitinger117,118, Antonella Mulas87, Guillaume Paré119, Alex N. Parker120, John F. Peden13,121, Astrid Petersmann122, Irene Pichler95, Kirsi H. Pietiläinen123,124, Anneli Pouta106,125, Martin Ridderstråle126, Jerome I. Rotter127, Jennifer G. Sambrook128,129, Alan R. Sanders97, Carsten Oliver Schmidt130, Juha Sinisalo131, Jan H. Smit132, Heather M. Stringham8, G. Bragi Walters20, Elisabeth Widen63, Sarah H. Wild93, Gonneke Willemsen52, Laura Zagato94, Lina Zgaga56, Paavo Zitting133, Helene Alavere38, Martin Farrall13,121,134, Wendy L. McArdle135, Mari Nelis38,39,40, Marjolein J. Peters3,4, Samuli Ripatti63,64, Joyce B. J. van Meurs2,3,4, Katja K. Aben136, Kristin G. Ardlie11, Jacques S. Beckmann41,137, John P. Beilby108,109,138, Richard N. Bergman139, Sven Bergmann41,42, Francis S. Collins140, Daniele Cusi85, Martin den Heijer141, Gudny Eiriksdottir24, Pablo V. Gejman97, Alistair S. Hall92, Anders Hamsten142, Heikki V. Huikuri74, Carlos Iribarren143,144, Mika Kähönen145, Jaakko Kaprio63,123,146, Sekar Kathiresan11,14,147,148,149, Lambertus Kiemeney136,150,151, Thomas Kocher152, Lenore J. Launer153, Terho Lehtimäki154, Olle Melander126, Tom H. Mosley Jr155, Arthur W. Musk109,156, Markku S. Nieminen131, Christopher J. O’Donnell148,157, Claes Ohlsson77, Ben Oostra158, Lyle J. Palmer70,109, Olli Raitakari159, Paul M. Ridker66,67, John D. Rioux5,6, Aila Rissanen124, Carlo Rivolta41, Heribert Schunkert160, Alan R. Shuldiner72,161, David S. Siscovick162,163, Michael Stumvoll164,165, Anke Tönjes164,166, Jaakko Tuomilehto167,168,169, Gert-Jan van Ommen170, Jorma Viikari171, Andrew C. Heath172, Nicholas G. Martin173, Grant W. Montgomery174, Michael A. Province37,175, Manfred Kayser176, Alice M. Arnold78,177, Larry D. Atwood21, Eric Boerwinkle178, Stephen J. Chanock7, Panos Deloukas17, Christian Gieger31, Henrik Grönberg60, Per Hall60, Andrew T. Hattersley1, Christian Hengstenberg179,180, Wolfgang Hoffman130, G. Mark Lathrop181, Veikko Salomaa107, Stefan Schreiber182, Manuela Uda87, Dawn Waterworth183, Alan F. Wright51, Themistocles L. Assimes54, Inês Barroso17,184, Albert Hofman2,4, Karen L. Mohlke185, Dorret I. Boomsma52, Mark J. Caulfield44, L. Adrienne Cupples81, Jeanette Erdmann160, Caroline S. Fox186, Vilmundur Gudnason24,25, Ulf Gyllensten35, Tamara B. Harris153, Richard B. Hayes187, Marjo-Riitta Jarvelin69,111,125,188, Vincent Mooser183, Patricia B. Munroe44, Willem H. Ouwehand17,128,129, Brenda W. Penninx132,189,190, Peter P. Pramstaller95,191,192, Thomas Quertermous54, Igor Rudan51,116, Nilesh J. Samani84,88, Timothy D. Spector18, Henry Völzke130, Hugh Watkins on behalf of the Procardis Consortium13,121, James F. Wilson93, Leif C. Groop91, Talin Haritunians127, Frank B. Hu22,23,45, Robert C. Kaplan193, Andres Metspalu38,39,40, Kari E. North55,194, David Schlessinger195, Nicholas J. Wareham32, David J. Hunter22,23,45, Jeffrey R. O’Connell72, David P. Strachan196, H.-Erich Wichmann31,80,197, Ingrid B. Borecki37,175, Cornelia M. van Duijn2,4, Eric E. Schadt198,199, Unnur Thorsteinsdottir20,200, Leena Peltonen17,63,64,82,201, André G. Uitterlinden2,3,4, Peter M. Visscher19, Nilanjan Chatterjee7, Ruth J. F. Loos32, Michael Boehnke8, Mark I. McCarthy13,47,202, Erik Ingelsson60, Cecilia M. Lindgren13,47, Gonçalo R. Abecasis8,204, Kari Stefansson20,200,204, Timothy M. Frayling1,204 & Joel N. Hirschhorn9,10,203,204

1.Genetics of Complex Traits, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Exeter, Exeter EX1 2LU, UK.

2.Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Centre, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

3.Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus Medical Centre, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

4.Netherlands Genomics Initiative (NGI)-sponsored Netherlands Consortium for Healthy Aging (NCHA), 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.

5.Montreal Heart Institute, Montréal, Québec H1T 1C8, Canada.

6.Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec H3T 1J4, Canada.

7.Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.

8.Department of Biostatistics, Center for Statistical Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.

9.Divisions of Genetics and Endocrinology and Program in Genomics, Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

10.Metabolism Initiative and Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.

11.Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.

12.Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 USA.

13.Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.

14.Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.

15.Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.

16.Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.

17.Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK.

18.Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King’s College London, Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7EH, UK.

19.Queensland Statistical Genetics Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Queensland 4006, Australia.

20.deCODE Genetics, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland.

21.Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA.

22.Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

23.Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

24.Icelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur, Iceland.

25.University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland.

26.McGill University and Genome Québec Innovation Centre, Montréal, Québec H3A 1A4, Canada.

27.Department of Human Genetics, McGill University Health Centre, McGill University, Montréal, Québec H3G 1A4, Canada.

28.Department of Medical Genetics, McGill University Health Centre, McGill University, Montréal, Québec H3G 1A4, Canada.

29.Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.

30.Regensburg University Medical Center, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, 93053 Regensburg, Germany.

31.Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München – German Research Center for Environmental Health, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.

32.MRC Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK.

33.Faculty of Land and Environment, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, Australia.

34.Department of Primary Industries, Bundoora, Victoria 3086,, Australia.

35.Department of Genetics and Pathology, Rudbeck Laboratory, University of Uppsala, SE-75185 Uppsala, Sweden.

36.Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7489 Trondheim, Norway.

37.Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.

38.Estonian Genome Center, University of Tartu, Tartu 50410, Estonia.

39.Estonian Biocenter, Tartu 51010, Estonia.

40.Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, Tartu 51010, Estonia.

41.Department of Medical Genetics, University of Lausanne, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland.

42.Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.

43.Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London, Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6BQ, UK.

44.Clinical Pharmacology and Barts and The London Genome Centre, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London, Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6BQ, UK.

45.Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

46.Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

47.Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7LJ, UK.

48.Hudson Alpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, Alabama 35806, USA.

49.Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University Greifswald, 17487 Greifswald, Germany.

50.Cardiovascular Health Research Unit and Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98101, USA.

51.MRC Human Genetics Unit, Institute for Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, Scotland, UK.

52.Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

53.Core Genotyping Facility, SAIC-Frederick, Inc., NCI-Frederick, Frederick, Maryland 21702, USA.

54.Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, USA.

55.Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514, USA.

56.Andrija Stampar School of Public Health, Medical School, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.

57.Gen-Info Ltd, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.

58.Universität zu Lübeck, Institut für Medizinische Biometrie und Statistik, 23562 Lübeck, Germany.

59.Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB1 8RN, UK.

60.Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.

61.Center for Human Genomics, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA.

62.Neurogenetics Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Queensland 4006, Australia.

63.Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.

64.National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, Unit of Public Health Genomics, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland.

65.Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195 Washington, USA.

66.Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.

67.Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

68.Program in Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

69.Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, UK.

70.Centre for Genetic Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia.

71.Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases and University of Bath, Bath BA1 1RL, UK.

72.Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA.

73.Genetics Department, Rosetta Inpharmatics, a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Merck & Co Inc., Seattle, Washington 98109, USA.

74.Department of Internal Medicine, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, Finland.

75.MGH Weight Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.

76.Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 93405, USA.

77.Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 413 45 Gothenburg, Sweden.

78.Departments of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.

79.Ludwig-Maximilians- Universität, Department of Medicine I, University Hospital Grosshadern, 81377 Munich, Germany.

80.Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Institute of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Chair of Epidemiology, 81377 Munich, Germany.

81.Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA.

82.The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.

83.Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

84.Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester LE3 9QP, UK.

85.University of Milan, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, 20139 Milan, Italy.

86.KOS Genetic Srl, 20123 Milan, Italy.

87.Istituto di Neurogenetica e Neurofarmacologia del CNR, Monserrato, 09042 Cagliari, Italy.

88.Leicester NIHR Biomedical Research Unit in Cardiovascular Disease, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester LE3 9QP, UK.

89.Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK.

90.Universität zu Lübeck, Institut für Medizinische Biometrie und Statistik, 23562 Lübeck, Germany.

91.Lund University Diabetes Centre, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, 20502 Malmö, Sweden.

92.Multidisciplinary Cardiovascular Research Centre, Leeds Institute of Genetics, Health and Therapeutics, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.

93.Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, Scotland, UK.

94.University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Division of Nephrology and Dialysis, 20132 Milan, Italy.

95.Institute of Genetic Medicine, European Academy Bozen/Bolzano (EURAC), Bolzano/Bozen, 39100, Italy. Affiliated Institute of the University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.

96.British Heart Foundation Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8TA, UK.

97.Northshore University Healthsystem, Evanston, Illinois 60201, USA.

98.Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Genetics, Institut Municipal D’investigacio Medica and CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Barcelona, Spain.

99.Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.

100.National Institute for Health and Welfare, 00271 Helsinki, Finland.

101.Helsinki University Central Hospital, Unit of General Practice, 00280 Helsinki, Finland.

102.Folkhalsan Research Centre, 00250 Helsinki, Finland.

103.Vasa Central Hospital, 65130 Vasa, Finland.

104.Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.

105.Hypertension and Cardiovascular Prevention Center, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy.

106.Department of Clinical Sciences/Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, Finland.

107.National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Prevention Unit, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.

108.PathWest Laboratory of Western Australia, Department of Molecular Genetics, J Block, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, Australia.

109.Busselton Population Medical Research Foundation Inc., Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, Australia.

110.National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, Population Studies Unit, 20720 Turku, Finland.

111.Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, Finland.

112.Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.

113.Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, 90220 Oulu, Finland.

114.Human Genetics, Genome Institute of Singapore, Singapore 138672, Singapore.

115.Transplantation Laboratory, Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.

116.Croatian Centre for Global Health, School of Medicine, University of Split, Split 21000, Croatia.

117.Institute of Human Genetics, Klinikum rechts der Isar der Technischen Universität München, 81675 Munich, Germany.

118.Institute of Human Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München – German Research Center for Environmental Health, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany.

119.Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5, Canada.

120.Amgen, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.

121.Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford, Level 6 West Wing, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headley Way, Headington, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.

122.Institut für Klinische Chemie und Laboratoriumsmedizin, Universität Greifswald, 17475 Greifswald, Germany.

123.Finnish Twin Cohort Study, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.

124.Obesity Research unit, Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.

125.National Institute for Health and Welfare, 90101 Oulu, Finland.

126.Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, 20502 Malmö, Sweden.

127.Medical Genetics Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California 90048, USA.

128.Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0PT, UK.

129.NHS Blood and Transplant, Cambridge Centre, Cambridge CB2 0PT, UK.

130.Institut für Community Medicine, 17489 Greifswald, Germany.

131.Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Laboratory, Helsinki University Central Hospital, 00029 Helsinki, Finland.

132.Department of Psychiatry/EMGO Institute, VU University Medical Center, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

133.Department of Physiatrics, Lapland Central Hospital, 96101 Rovaniemi, Finland.

134.Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.

135.Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) Laboratory, Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2BN, UK.

136.Comprehensive Cancer Center East, 6501 BG Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

137.Service of Medical Genetics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) University Hospital, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland.

138.School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009, Australia.

139.Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90033, USA.

140.National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.

141.Department of Endocrinology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

142.Atherosclerosis Research Unit, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.

143.Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, California 94612, USA.

144.Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94107, USA.

145.Department of Clinical Physiology, University of Tampere and Tampere University Hospital, 33520 Tampere, Finland.

146.National Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Unit for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 00271 Helsinki, Finland.

147.Cardiovascular Research Center and Cardiology Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.

148.Framingham Heart Study of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Boston University, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702, USA.

149.Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

150.Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and HTA, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

151.Department of Urology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

152.Zentrum für Zahn-, Mund- und Kieferheilkunde, 17489 Greifswald, Germany.

153.Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, Biometry, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.

154.Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Tampere and Tampere University Hospital, 33520 Tampere, Finland.

155.Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi 39216, USA.

156.School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia.

157.National, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702, USA.

158.Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus Medical Centre, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

159.Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku and the Department of Clinical Physiology, Turku University Hospital, 20520 Turku, Finland.

160.Universität zu Lübeck, Medizinische Klinik II, 23562 Lübeck, Germany.

161.Geriatrics Research and Education Clinical Center, Baltimore Veterans Administration Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA.

162.Cardiovascular Health Research Unit, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98101, USA.

163.Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.

164.Department of Medicine, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.

165.LIFE Study Centre, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.

166.Coordination Centre for Clinical Trials, University of Leipzig, Härtelstrasse 16-18, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.

167.National Institute for Health and Welfare, Diabetes Prevention Unit, 00271 Helsinki, Finland.

168.Hjelt Institute, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.

169.South Ostrobothnia Central Hospital, 60220 Seinajoki, Finland.

170.Department of Human Genetics and Center of Medical Systems Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 ZC Leiden, the Netherlands.

171.Department of Medicine, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, 20520 Turku, Finland.

172.Department of Psychiatry and Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri 63108, USA.

173.Genetic Epidemiology Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Queensland 4006, Australia.

174.Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Queensland 4006, Australia.

175.Division of Biostatistics,Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.

176.Department of Forensic Molecular Biology, Erasmus Medical Centre, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

177.Collaborative Health Studies Coordinating Center, Seattle, Washington 98115, USA.

178.Human Genetics Center and Institute of Molecular Medicine and Division of Epidemiology, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.

179.Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin II, Universität Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany.

180.Regensburg University Medical Center, Innere Medizin II, 93053 Regensburg, Germany.

181.Centre National de Genotypage, Evry, Paris 91057, France.

182.Christian-Albrechts-University, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Institute for Clinical Molecular Biology and Department of Internal Medicine I, Schittenhelmstrasse 12, 24105 Kiel, Germany.

183.Genetics Division, GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406, USA.

184.University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories, Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge CB2 OQQ, UK.

185.Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA.

186.Division of Intramural Research, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702, USA.

187.New York University Medical Center, New York, New York 10016, USA.

188.Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, 90014 Oulu, Finland.

189.Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Centre, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.

190.Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Centre Groningen, 9713 GZ Groningen, The Netherlands.

191.Department of Neurology, General Central Hospital, Bolzano, Italy.

192.Department of Neurology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.

193.Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461, USA.

194.Carolina Center for Genome Sciences, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514, USA.

195.Laboratory of Genetics, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland 21224, USA.

196.Division of Community Health Sciences, St George’s, University of London, London SW17 0RE, UK.

197.Klinikum Grosshadern, 81377 Munich, Germany.

198.Pacific Biosciences, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA.

199.Sage Bionetworks, Seattle, Washington 98109, USA.

200.Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland.

201.Department of Medical Genetics, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland.

202.NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Churchill Hospital, Oxford OX3 7LJ, UK.

203.Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

204.These authors contributed equally to this work.