Basic Gene Mapping / Linkage Analysis Course

July 16-20, 2007
Max Delbrueck Center (MDC) for Molecular Medicine
Berlin, Germany

The 2007 Course Participants

Course Description

Emphasis This course was mainly focussed on strategies for genetic mapping of human mendelian and complex traits. The course is for researchers with little or no experience in using linkage programs. It included theory as well as practical exercises. The exercises were carried out using a variety of computer programs. The course participants learned how to use and interpret the results for a number of programs, e.g. MLINK, GENEHUNTER, ALLEGRO, SimWalk2, Merlin, HOMOG, R, and others.

Topics included:

parametric methods (two-point and multipoint analysis);
allele sharing (nonparametric) methods for sib-pairs and extended families (two-point and multipoint analysis)
fine mapping
linkage admixture
association studies (trios and case-control)
sample size estimation (extended families [simulation studies], sib-pairs and case-control data) and estimating empirical p-values.

The instructors for the course were Suzanne Leal (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, U.S.A.) and Michael Nothnagel (University of Kiel, Germany).

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Datasets used in the Course Exercises

The datasets that were used during the course are available for download below. The sets are available as archive files for UNIX/Linux and for Windows/DOS.

File	Size	Description
gmc2007.data.tar.gz	49 kB	Linux archive Extract with '`gzip -d gmc2007.data.tar.gz ; tar -xvf gmc2007.data.tar`'
gmc2007.data.zip	55 kB	WinZip archive file Extract with WinZip program (free evaluation version available from http://www.winzip.com/downwz.htm)

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Help Documents for LINKAGE Package

Some programs of the LINKAGE software package were used during the course. Here are some help documents in PDF format for download:

Please also visit Jürg Ott's web site at http://linkage.rockefeller.edu/ott/.

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Upcoming Courses & Additional Information

The Basic Gene Mapping Course is usually held in the first half of July of each year.
If you want to be updated on upcoming courses, please contact Michael Nothnagel: nothnagel medinfo.uni-kiel.de.
For additional information on the scientific content, please contact Suzanne M. Leal: sleal bcm.tmc.edu.