The contribution of genetic variation at the 17q21.31 locus to AD biomarker detection has received less attention than APOE genotype; however, a recent GWAS meta-analysis revealed that the locus was significantly associated with plasma t-tau in European Americans but not in African Americans (Sarnowski et al., 2022), which is suggestive that genetic architecture related to ancestry may influence tau pathology. This evidence concerns the gene MAPT and Alzheimer disease.