The interface between epidemiology and population genetics

Modern biology increasingly integrates disparate disciplines. Here, Steve Paterson and Mark Viney examine the interface between epidemiology and population genetics. They argue that infection and inheritance can be considered as analogous processes, and that epidemiology and population genetics share many common features. They consider the potential for existing population genetic theory to dissect epidemiological patterns in field studies and they consider other relationships between genetics and epidemiology that provide a research challenge for the future.