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This lecture introduces course objectives, which are to provide students with a working understanding of the techniques commonly used by statistical geneticists. These techniques can server as building blocks for the implementation of more complex, customized analyses. In addition, the lecture provides a brief overview of some of the key questions that statistical genetics tries to answer.  

This lecture introduces course objectives, which are to provide students with a working understanding of the techniques commonly used by statistical geneticists. These techniques can server as building blocks for the implementation of more complex, customized analyses. In addition, the lecture provides a brief overview of some of the key questions that statistical genetics tries to answer.  

There are two important sets of questions:

There are two important sets of questions...

 

* One set of questions concerns the description and characterization of genetic data in the population. This will include estimation of allele and haplotype frequencies, tests of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, reconstruction of DNA sequences using small, fragmentary sequences as input. These analyses are an essential step in the quality control and assessment of any genetic dataset and a necessary and important first step in the analysis of any dataset.

* One set of questions concerns the description and characterization of genetic data in the population. This will include estimation of allele and haplotype frequencies, tests of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, reconstruction of DNA sequences using small, fragmentary sequences as input. These analyses are an essential step in the quality control and assessment of any genetic dataset and a necessary and important first step in the analysis of any dataset.

* Another key, and perhaps more interesting, set of questions concerns those that help clarify the relationship between DNA sequences and biological outcomes, including human disease but also a variety of other traits. This second set of questions can conveniently be grouped into three:

* Another key, and perhaps more interesting, set of questions concerns those that help clarify the relationship between DNA sequences and biological outcomes, including human disease but also a variety of other traits. This second set of questions can conveniently be grouped into three:

# '''Where are the genetic variants that influence a trait?''' These types of analysis try to assign a specific chromosomal location to the variants that influence the trait. Traditionally, this step relied on linkage analysis but association analysis and related approaches are now more common.

# '''Where are the genetic variants that influence a trait?''' These types of analysis try to assign a specific chromosomal location to the variants that influence the trait. Traditionally, this step relied on linkage analysis but association analysis and related approaches are now more common.

# '''What are the specific variants that influence a trait?''' This is, ultimately, the most interesting question but is often the hardest questions to answer. It requires exhaustive measurement of DNA variation in a region of interest and, often, comparison of results across different populations and follow-up laboratory experiments.

# '''What are the specific variants that influence a trait?''' This is, ultimately, the most interesting question but is often the hardest questions to answer. It requires exhaustive measurement of DNA variation in a region of interest and, often, comparison of results across different populations and follow-up laboratory experiments.

== Slides ==

== Slides ==

[[Media:666.01.pdf|Slides in PDF Format]]

[[Media:666.01.pdf|Slides in PDF Format]]