You are currently viewing the abstract.
View Full TextLog in to view the full text
AAAS login provides access to Science for AAAS members, and access to other journals in the Science family to users who have purchased individual subscriptions.
Register for free to read this article
As a service to the community, this article is available for free. Existing users log in.
More options
Download and print this article for your personal scholarly, research, and educational use.
Buy a single issue of Science for just $15 USD.
Abstract
Phenotypic variation among organisms is central to evolutionary adaptations underlying natural and artificial selection, and also determines individual susceptibility to common diseases. These types of complex traits pose special challenges for genetic analysis because of gene-gene and gene-environment interactions, genetic heterogeneity, low penetrance, and limited statistical power. Emerging genome resources and technologies are enabling systematic identification of genes underlying these complex traits. We propose standards for proof of gene discovery in complex traits and evaluate the nature of the genes identified to date. These proof-of-concept studies demonstrate the insights that can be expected from the accelerating pace of gene discovery in this field.
↵* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jhn4{at}po.cwru.edu, t.aitman{at}csc.mrc.ac.uk
