Main description:

Ultimately, the quality of the tools available for genetic analysis and experimental disease models will be assessed on the basis of whether they provide new information that generates novel treatments for human disease. In addition, the time frame in which genetic discoveries impact clinical practice is also an important dimension of how society assesses the results of the significant public financial investment in genetic research. Because of the investment and the increased expectation that new tre- ments will be found for common diseases, allowing decades to pass before basic discoveries are made and translated into new therapies is no longer acceptable. Computational Genetics and Genomics: Tools for Understanding Disease provides an overview and assessment of currently available and developing tools for genetic analysis. It is hoped that these new tools can be used to identify the genetic basis for susceptibility to disease. Although this very broad topic is addressed in many other books and journal articles, Computational Genetics and Genomics: Tools for Understanding Disease focuses on methods used for analyzing mouse genetic models of biomedically - portant traits. This volume aims to demonstrate that commonly used inbred mouse strains can be used to model virtually all human disea- related traits. Importantly, recently developed computational tools will enable the genetic basis for differences in disease-related traits to be rapidly identified using these inbred mouse strains. On average, a decade is required to carry out the development process required to demonstrate that a new disease treatment is beneficial.

Contents:

Part I. Theory and Technical Concept

Computational Biology: Are We There Yet?
Gary Peltz

Statistical Theory in QTL Mapping
Benjamin Yakir, Anne Pisante, and Ariel Darvasi

Haplotype-Based Computational Genetic Analysis in Mice
Jianmei Wang and Gary Peltz

Haplotype Structure of the Mouse Genome
Jianmei Wang, Guochun Liao, Janet Cheng, Anh Nguyen, Jingshu Guo, Christopher Chou, Steven Hu, Sharon Jiang, John Allard, Steve Shafer, Anne Puech, John D. McPherson, Dorothee Foernzler, Gary Peltz, and Jonathan Usuka

SNP Discovery and Genotyping: Methods and Applications
Jun Wang, Dee Aud, Soren Germer, and Russell Higuchi

Part II. Selected Examples: Murine Models of Human Disease

Genetic and Genomic Approaches to Complex Lung Diseases Using Mouse Models
Michael J. Holtzman, Edy Y. Kim, and Jeffrey D. Morton

Murine Models of Osteoporosis
Robert F. Klein

Murine Models of Substance and Alcohol Dependence: Unraveling Genetic Complexities
Kim Cronise and John C. Crabbe

Murine Models of Alcoholism: From QTL to Gene
Chris Downing, Beth Bennett, and Thomas E. Johnson

Part III. Selected Examples: The Genetic Basis for Human Disease

HLA Polymorphism and Disease Susceptibility
Henry A. Erlich

Asthma Genetics: A Case Study
William Cookson

Index