Howie and Harlan are joined by geneticist and endocrinologist Joel Hirschhorn to discuss how thousands of genetic variants collectively shape disease and traits like height and obesity. Harlan reviews new research on diet soda and dementia; Howie surveys recent market swings, including the rise of Solace Health and the decline of Hims & Hers.

Show notes:

Diet Soda and Dementia

"Soda consumption and risk of dementia: The Northern Manhattan study"

"Why One Cardiologist Has Drunk His Last Diet Soda"

Joel Hirschhorn

National Human Genome Research Institute: Mendelian Inheritance

MedlinePlus: FGFR3 gene

Cleveland Clinic: Achondroplasia

National Human Genome Research: Polygenic Trait

Hirschhorn Lab

"A saturated map of common genetic variants associated with human height"

"What are single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)?"

ScienceDirect: Genetic Variant

Joel Hirschhorn: "Genome-Wide Association Study of Quantitative Kidney Function in 52,531 Individuals with Diabetes Identifies Five Diabetes-Specific Loci"

Joel Hirschhorn: "Polygenic prediction of body mass index and obesity through the life course and across ancestries"

"Obesity Prediction Could Be Guided by Genetic Risk Scores"

"Genome-wide association study shows BCL11A associated with persistent fetal hemoglobin and amelioration of the phenotype of β-thalassemia"

Society for Science: Noam Elkies

MIT: Eric S. Lander

Ups and Downs

"Understanding Creative Destruction: Driving Innovation and Economic Change"

"Solace Health raises $130M series C for advocacy platform"

"Molina Healthcare's stocks fall as company plans exit from Medicare Advantage"

"Centene swings to loss but predicts stabilization in 2026"

"UnitedHealth limps into 2026 with a smaller business and fresh challenges"

"Hims & Hers Falls 14% After Pulling Copycat Wegovy Pill—Novo Nordisk Up 8%"

"Compounding and the FDA: Questions and Answers"

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