The Role of Family-Based Designs in Genome-Wide Association Studies

TL;DR

This paper discusses the advantages and challenges of using family-based designs in GWAS, emphasizing their robustness and relevance for identifying genes associated with complex diseases.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of the unique features of family-based GWAS designs and their importance in the context of modern genetic research.

Findings

Family-based designs offer robustness against population stratification.

They may have reduced power compared to traditional case-control studies.

Family designs remain relevant in the era of GWAS for complex disease gene discovery.

Abstract

Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) offer an exciting and promising new research avenue for finding genes for complex diseases. Traditional case-control and cohort studies offer many advantages for such designs. Family-based association designs have long been attractive for their robustness properties, but robustness can mean a loss of power. In this paper we discuss some of the special features of family designs and their relevance in the era of GWAS.