Setting the ALT allele as the A1 allele

8 views
Skip to first unread message

Marta R.

unread,
Feb 16, 2026, 4:53:47 PM (8 days ago) Feb 16
to plink2-users
Hello! 

I am trying to run a regression on a dataset I have, and I believe plink2 automatically uses the minor allele as the A1 allele, which may not always be the ALT allele. In my analysis, I need to have the ALT allele as the A1 allele even if it's the major one. 

I have seen that in plink1.9 there's the function --a1--allele which if I'm not mistaken can force the ALT allele to become the A1 allele; and I have seen functions for plink2.0 like --omit-ref, but I'm not sure it would have the same result after reading the documentation.

Can anyone confirm that adding omit-ref would force for all the beta effects to be based on the ALT allele even if it's the major allele? Is there any downside or consideration when using --omit-ref?

Thank you so much!

M

Chris Chang

unread,
Feb 16, 2026, 8:27:05 PM (8 days ago) Feb 16
to Marta R., plink2-users
Yes, the 'omit-ref' modifier to --glm (note that it isn't a separate flag, "--omit-ref" won't work) causes --glm's beta effects to be calculated for the ALT allele.

The known downside relates to interaction testing; if you are not using the 'interaction' --glm modifier, you don't have to worry about it.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "plink2-users" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to plink2-users...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/plink2-users/19aa6c85-1464-44de-b713-e26841080c91n%40googlegroups.com.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages