Genetic susceptibility in infectious diseases

Area of Science:

• Genetics
• Infectious Diseases
• Complex Traits

Background:

• Infectious disease outcomes vary greatly among individuals.
• Genetic factors significantly influence these outcomes, presenting them as complex traits.
• Identifying these genetic influences is currently resource-intensive.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss the challenges and methodologies in identifying genes that affect infectious disease outcomes.
• To highlight the importance of genetic contribution evidence, such as from twin studies.
• To outline the process of evaluating candidate genes and the role of association studies.

Main Methods:

• Review of techniques for identifying disease susceptibility alleles, including allele sharing studies and interspecific crosses.
• Emphasis on the necessity of well-designed disease association studies for final evaluation.
• Leveraging post-genomic era advancements for polymorphism identification and functional characterization.

Main Results:

• The identification of genes influencing disease outcome is a complex and resource-intensive process.
• Current methods for identifying susceptibility alleles are not universally applicable.
• Disease association studies remain crucial for validating candidate genes.

Conclusions:

• Clear evidence of genetic contribution, ideally from twin studies, is necessary before initiating gene identification projects.
• The post-genomic era will accelerate the discovery and functional analysis of polymorphisms.
• Analysis of infectious disease susceptibility is becoming increasingly tractable due to technological advancements.