Admixture mapping as a tool in gene discovery

Admixture mapping is a rapidly developing method to map susceptibility alleles in complex genetic disease associated with continental ancestry. Theoretically, when admixture between continental populations has occurred relatively recently, the chromosomal segments derived from the parental populations can be deduced from the differences in genotype allele frequencies. Progress in computational algorithms, in identification of ancestry informative single nucleotide polymorphisms, and in recent studies applying these tools suggests that this approach will complement other strategies for identifying the variation that underlies many complex diseases.