February 7, 2008
A new study by Dr. Eran Halperin of ICSI and colleagues provides a means of pinpointing the ancestry of each position on an individual's genome. This information can be used to reconstruct ancestral history, which can then be used in studies of complex genetic diseases. Results of the study are published in the February issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.
Large-scale genotyping of SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms, mutations that occurred once in history and then were passed on through heredity and became prevalent in a population) has been used extensively to identify markers that are associated with diseases. There are about 10 million SNPs in the human genome that differ between individuals.