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Multilocus linkage analysis of affected sib pairs
1Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, NY 10012, USA. ionita@cs.nyu.edu
Human Heredity
|January 21, 2006
Summary
This study introduces a multilocus linkage method that improves the detection of disease loci by considering interactions between multiple genetic markers. The new approach offers greater power for complex traits compared to traditional single-locus methods.
Area of Science:
- Genetics
- Biostatistics
Background:
- Conventional affected sib pair methods rely solely on marginal linkage information.
- This limits the detection of disease loci with modest genetic effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate a multilocus linkage method that incorporates information from marker interactions.
- To enhance the power of linkage analysis for complex traits.
Main Methods:
- A novel statistic was developed to quantify linkage information across multiple markers.
- A marker selection-reduction process was employed to identify relevant polymorphisms.
Main Results:
- The method successfully identified 6 out of 8 known inflammatory bowel disease loci in real genome scan data.
- Simulated data showed up to a 40% increase in power compared to single-locus methods.
Conclusions:
- The multilocus method is more powerful than single-locus approaches for complex trait genetic locus detection.
- The method can be extended to utilize both linkage and linkage disequilibrium information.