Isolates and their potential use in complex gene mapping efforts - Commentary

Linkage disequilibrium (LD), detectable with microsatellites in disease alleles over wide genetic intervals in population isolates, has facilitated mapping and positional cloning of numerous disease genes. We, among others, have shown that the LD intervals reach up to 1 Mb in general alleles of young subisolates, and that this feature most probably offers an avenue for the initial locus positioning for complex traits. Development of efficient SNP genotyping and characterization of haploblock structure of the human genome have introduced new prospects to LD-based fine mapping and haplotype-association studies. Encouraging associations have been reported for several complex diseases. Final breakthroughs in mapping of complex disease loci have emerged on large pedigrees in population isolates. Conversely, ignoring genealogical makeup of the study population seems to disclose false negative and false positive associations, directing resources down the drain.