Commentary
Promise and pitfalls of the Immunochip
University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Ipswich Road, Woolloongabba, Brisbane, Queensland, 4102 Australia
Arthritis Research & Therapy 2011, 13:101 doi:10.1186/ar3204
Published: 1 February 2011Abstract
Genomewide association studies (GWAS) have proven a powerful hypothesis-free method to identify common disease-associated variants. Even quite large GWAS, however, have only at best identified moderate proportions of the genetic variants contributing to disease heritability. To provide cost-effective genotyping of common and rare variants to map the remaining heritability and to fine-map established loci, the Immunochip Consortium has developed a 200,000 SNP chip that has been produced in very large numbers for a fraction of the cost of GWAS chips. This chip provides a powerful tool for immunogenetics gene mapping.
