found to be associated with BMD or osteoporosis by previous studies [10–16]. However, although many associated genetic variants have been identified by GWAS, the causal variants truly with biological effects have remained largely unknown. Furthermore, only ~10% of the total BMD heritability has been explained by the current GWAS findings [14]. Additional genes and biological mechanisms underlying osteoporosis could be identified from existing GWAS data by using novel biostatistic and bioinformatic methods [17].
