Department of Medicine, University College London Medical School, The Rayne Institute, London, UK (address from October 1997: Wessex Human Genetics Institute, Southampton University Hospital, Southampton, UK). Department of Medicine, University College London Medical School, The Rayne Institute, London, UK.

"I recommend this book as a good introduction to this exciting area." BMJ; ; "In summary, this book is an interesting and very informative attempt to bring together aspects of our rapidly increasing knowledge of the genetics of common diseases, with poss

• Contributors -- Abbreviations -- Preface -- 1 Perspectives in human linkage studies. /S. Povey -- Pairwise linkage analysis of Mendelian traits -- Finding the cause of a disease which shows clear Mendelian inheritance -- After a LOO score of +3, what next? -- Narrowing the search by searching for critical recombinants -- Linkage disequilibrium -- Linkage analysis in more complex situations -- Linkage in complex traits -- Why are we doing this? -- References -- 2 Twin research: nature versus nurture in common diseases. /K.O. Kyvik -- Introduction -- History -- Biology of twinning -- Demography -- Twin studies -- Assumptions -- T he concept of concordance rates -- Heritability -- Twin studies and common diseases -- Other types of twin studies -- Conclusion -- References -- 3 The molecular basis of genetic variation: mutation detection methodologies and limitations. /E. Spanakis and I.N.M. Day -- Introduction -- Current theories of mutation -- Parallel development of theory with methodology -- Methods of mutation detection -- Limitations of current methods for mutation detection -- Our approaches -- Conclusions -- References -- 4 Finding susceptibility genes for schizophrenia. /M.J. Owen and M.C. O'Donovan -- Introduction -- Molecular genetic approaches to schizophrenia -- Candidate gene association studies -- Conclusions -- References -- 5 Approaches to determining the genetic basis of noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. /M. McCarthy -- Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) -- Overview of approaches to dissect NIDDM -- Choosing a candidate gene -- Exploring candidate genes -- Assessing genotype-phenotype correlations -- Understanding the biology of complex traits -- References -- 6 Population-scale genotype assays: APOE gene in Alzheimer's dementia and coronary risk. /I.N.M. Day, D. Palamand and E. Spanakis -- Introduction: availability of population-scale gene testing -- Background -- Some future possibilities -- References -- 7 Genetic tests for corona