The extent, causes and implications of pleiotropy among complex traits

该项目试图了解DNA突变如何影响许多性格或特征。许多性状之所以被称为复杂性状，是因为它们是由大量基因控制的，其中大多数基因的影响很小。复杂的性状包括医学上重要的性状(如对心脏病的易感性)和农业上的重要性状(如肉的嫩度)。因为影响每个性状的基因很多，所以大多数基因的影响都很小，这使得它们很难识别。事实上，对复杂性状影响较小的突变对不太复杂的性状也有较大影响，这一事实可能有助于我们识别突变并将其用于农业或医药。

The project seeks to understand how a DNA mutation can affect many characters or traits. Many traits are called complex because they are controlled by a very large number of genes, most of which have small effects. Complex traits include traits important in medicine (such as susceptibility to heart disease) and in agriculture (such as tenderness of meat). Because there are many genes affecting each trait, most genes have small effects which makes them hard to identify. The fact that a mutation that has a small effect on a complex trait also has a larger effect on a less complex trait may help us to identify the mutation and use it in agriculture or medicine.