The impact of sex, age, and genetic ancestry on DNA methylation across tissues

Genome Research 2026 Preprint Open access

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Authors: Winona Oliveros, José Miguel Ramírez, Maria Sopena-Rios, Pau Clavell-Revelles, Marta Melé
DOI: 10.1101/gr.281428.125
Cited by: 0
References: 104

Abstract

Understanding the consequences of individual DNA methylation variation is crucial for advancing our knowledge of human biology and disease, yet the collective impact of individual traits on DNA methylation and their downstream effects on gene expression across human tissues remains poorly understood. Here, we quantify the contributions of sex, age, genetic ancestry, and BMI on autosomal DNA methylation variation across nine human tissues and 424 individuals from the Genotype-Tissue Expression project. We show that genetic ancestry and age have a greater impact on DNA methylation compared with sex, with aging effects being more widespread but less pronounced. On average,

Fields of Study & Subjects

Epigenetics and DNA Methylation

Publication details

Journal / source
Genome Research
Volume
36
Issue
9
Pages
1725–1741
Publication date
14 July 2026
Language
EN
Document type
Preprint