Interaction of disease-associated genetic variants by socioeconomic status: Is there potential to explore socioeconomic inequalities in health?

Background: The concept of gene by environment interaction (G × E) has been extensively discussed in the sociological literature, but how it might contribute to the exploration of socioeconomic inequalities in health has hardly been evaluated so far. By regarding the incorporation of G × E in the explanation of health inequalities it is hypothesized that the effects of genetic variants on disease may be not of the same size or direction across socioeconomic groups, but modified by socioeconomic status (SES) and its related conditions such as diet, physical activity or exposure to environmental pollutants. Twin s…