Population choice in mapping genes for complex diseases

The difficulty of identifying susceptibility genes for common diseases has polarized geneticists' views on what disease models are appropriate and how best to proceed once high-density genome maps become available. Different disease models have different implications for using linkage or linkage-dis equilibrium-based approaches for mapping complex disease genes. We argue th at the choice of study population is a critical factor when designing a stu dy, and that genetically simplified isolates are more useful than diverse c ontinental populations under most assumptions.