Abstract
The process of linkage analysis in humans requires a statistical framework in which various hypotheses about the linkage of a trait locus and marker locus can be considered in an observational study design. For the meiotic events of a parent to be scorable for linkage analysis, the parent must be heterozygous at both loci under consideration, i.e. a "double heterozygote". Computer simulation studies can be performed to assess the power of an available data set to detect linkage under an assumed genetic model prior to initiating a screen of the entire genome to detect linkage. Multipoint linkage analysis is a statistical technique using available genetic maps in which the order of markers and the distances between the markers are known. In contrast to the parametric methods discussed, nonparametric linkage analysis makes no assumptions about the underlying genetic model of the trait/disease being studied, only that the trait has some genetic component.