Sections
Genetics and Genomics: Introduction | Epidemiological Basis for Genetic Contributions to
Neurobehavioral Disorders | Human Genetic Variation | Identification of Disease Loci | Conclusion | References
Excerpt
Genetics and genomics have become among the
most important tools in modern psychiatric research. Spurred by
the completion of the human genome sequence in February 2001, the
number of psychiatric genetic studies has increased dramatically
in the past two decades (Lander et al. 2001; Venter et al. 2001). The following chapter will attempt to cover
the basic methodologies and concepts, and define key terms, currently
used in psychiatric genetics and genomics. Our goal is to facilitate
interpretation by working physicians and scientists in the field
of psychopharmacology of the avalanche of genetic and genomic data
that are accumulating in the human neuroscience literature. Throughout
this chapter, terms in common use in the genetics and genomics literature
will be italicized upon their first use and definition.