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Smell and taste The one axis you can check on yourself: variants that change the perception rather than the odds. Infection and immunity Whether an infection passes or stays is decided as much by the host as by the microbe — and the host genes that decide it are usually the o… Kidneys Kidney function is reported as a single number, and that number is calculated rather than measured — which is where genetics, and an argume… Fertility Genetics has a great deal to say about the timing of reproduction across populations and almost nothing to say to one person trying to conceive. Bones and fractures Bone density is one of the more heritable things about a body — and the thing that actually matters, whether it breaks, is much harder to p… Alcohol and the flush One of the few places where a single variant is visible in the mirror. Exercise and muscle The "sprinter gene" is the most oversold result in consumer genetics. Menopause The one reproductive event with a date attached, and the date is partly inherited. What follows from that is smaller than the internet suggests. Short-sightedness and screens Myopia rose faster in two generations than any inherited trait can rise. The genetics is real and it is not what changed. Gut and food intolerance Bloating, dairy, gluten — the most-searched symptoms with real genetics behind some. Brain and memory What actually changes in a brain over a lifetime, and which of it is written down in advance. Longevity and ageing The supplement industry's favourite word, and what the data supports. Depression and stress The field that taught genetics its hardest lesson about single genes. Learning and focus Whether the difficulty of sitting down to study is partly inherited — a question with real, and repeatedly overstated, research behind it. Anxiety and worry The largest study of the trait behind this found it was not one trait. “Worry” and “depressed affect” came apart in the data, which is a fi… Sleep and insomnia Why some people wake at 5am without an alarm and others cannot. ADHD and attention Diagnoses are rising fast; the genetics is real and highly polygenic. Sport and performance Talent tests sold to parents, and what the research behind them actually supports. Running and endurance Running clubs, first marathons, and a watch telling you your VO2max. Smoking and vaping How hard quitting is turns out to be partly a metabolic question.