Single nucleotide polymorphisms as tools in human genetics

The development of detailed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) maps of th e human genome coupled with high-throughput genotyping technologies may all ow us to unravel complex genetic traits, such as multifactorial disease or drug response, over the next few years. Here we describe the current effort s to identify and characterize the large numbers of SNPs required and discu ss the practicalities of association studies for the identification of gene s involved in complex traits.