Long experience has taught me this about the progress of science: Communities of scientists typically work within a framework of common understanding, rarely questioning the scientific basis of that understanding.
Because whatever we develop, it has to be done on the basis of a common understanding of what is needed for the future.
Elucidating the genetic basis of common diseases will lead to an understanding of the biological mechanisms that underlie such diseases and can help in risk assessment, diagnosis, prognosis and development of new therapies.
Price, A. L., Spencer, C. C. & Donnelly, P. Progress and promise in understanding the genetic basis of common diseases.
Understanding the genetic basis of common disease was the promised payoff of the $3 billion human genome project, which was completed in 2003 but has taken some time to show many tangible results.
Understanding the genetic basis of common disease and disease-related quantitative traits will aid in the development of diagnostics and therapeutics.
Quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis of complex traits is one of the most important approaches available for understanding the genetic basis of common phenotypes.
Modeling genetic interaction (e.g. epistatic effect between SNPs) is essential to understanding the genetic basis of common diseases, since many diseases are complex traits (Lander, 2011).
Ranking and identifying biomarkers that are associated with disease from genome-wide measurements holds significant promise for understanding the genetic basis of common diseases.
Epi4K builds upon the substantial work that has already been focused on understanding the genetic basis of common forms of epilepsy and epileptic encephalopathies, including the prognostic determinants of these disorders.
