With the detailed genomic information that is now becoming available, we have a plethora of data that allows researchers to address questions in a variety of areas. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have become a vital approach to identify candidate regions associated with complex diseases in human medicine, production traits in agriculture, and variation in wild populations. Genomic prediction goes a step further, attempting to predict phenotypic variation in these traits from genomic information. Genome-Wide Association Studies and Genomic Prediction pulls together expert contributions to address this important area of study. The volume begins with a section covering the phenotypes of interest as well as design issues for GWAS, then moves on to discuss efficient computational methods to store and handle large datasets, quality control measures, phasing, haplotype inference, and imputation. Later chapters deal with statistical approaches to data analysis where the experimental objective is either to confirm the biology by identifying genomic regions associated to a trait or to use the data to make genomic predictions about a future phenotypic outcome (e.g. predict onset of disease). As part of the Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters provide helpful, real-world implementation advice.

The field of genetics is rapidly evolving and new medical breakthroughs are occuring as a result of advances in knowledge of genetics. This series continually publishes important reviews of the broadest interest to geneticists and their colleagues in affiliated disciplines. Five sections on the latest advances in complex traits Methods for testing with ethical, legal, and social implications Hot topics include discussions on systems biology approach to drug discovery; using comparative genomics for detecting human disease genes; computationally intensive challenges, and more

Systematics and phylogeny of the sheep;Genetic aspects of domestication, common breeds and their origin; Genetics of colour and hair texture; Genetics of morphological traits and inherited disorders; Biochemical genetics; Molecular genetics of sheep; Molecular genetics of immune molecules; Genetics of disease resistance and vaccine response; Molecular biology and genetics of scrapie in sheep; Cytogenetics: physical chromosome maps; The sheep linkage map; Genetics of behaviour; Biology and genetics of reproduction; Modern reproduction technologies and transgenics; Developmental genetics; Genetic resources and conservation; Genetic improvement of wool production; Genetics of meat quality; Genetics of milk production; Genetic improvement of sheep; Standardized genetic nomenclature for sheep.

A comprehensive description and assessment of the use of marker-assisted selection for increasing the rate of genetic gain in crops, livestock, forestry and fish, including the related policy, FAO's tradition of dealing with issues of importance to agricultural and economic development in a multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral manner.

DNA fingerprinting had a well-defined birthday. In the March 7, 1985 issue of Nature, Alec Jeffreys and coworkers described the first develop ment ofmu1tilocus probes capable of simultaneously revealing hypervari ability at many loci in the human genome and called the procedure DNA fingerprinting. It was a royal birth in the best British tradition. In a few months the emerging technique had permitted the denouement of hith erto insoluble immigration and paternity disputes and was already heralded as a major revolution in forensic sciences. In the next year (October, 1986) DNA fingerprinting made a dramatic entree in criminal investigations with the Enderby murder case, whose story eventually was turned into a best-selling book ("The Blooding" by Joseph Wambaugh). Today DNA typing systems are routinely used in public and commercial forensic laboratories in at least 25 different countries and have replaced conventional protein markers as the methods of choice for solving paternity disputes and criminal cases. Moreover, DNA fingerprinting has emerged as a new domain of intense scientific activity, with myriad applications in just about every imaginable territory of life sciences. The Second International Conference on DNA Fingerprinting, which was held in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in November of 1992, was a clear proof of this.