双生子方法在遗传流行病学研究中的应用及进展

双生子研究是确定复杂疾病和性状遗传学基础的重要方法之一。经典的双生子研究方法可以确定基因和环境对表型的相对作用大小,但随着遗传统计学、计算机以及分子生物学技术的发展,不仅使经典的双生子研究方法得到了拓展,而且还开辟了一些新的研究方法和理论,如基于结构化模型方法的应用、多变量设计、双生子对内病例对照研究、利用双生子及其家系资料所进行的遗传流行病学和分子遗传学研究等等。本文分别对经典双生子研究方法及拓展以及双生子研究在复杂疾病和性状的连锁和关联研究中的应用分别进行了综述。

Applications and Trends of Twins Study in Genetic Epidemiology

Twin study is one of the most important methods to identify the genetic basis of complex diseases or traits. The classical twins study can be used to identify the relative contribution of genetic and environmental influences on the variation of phenotype. But with the development of genetic statistics and the techniques of computer and molecular biology, the classical twin study not only has been extended, but also developed some new methods and theories, such as applications based on structural equation modeling, multivariate design, co-twin case-control study and twins family study. In this article, the methods of classical twins study extended classical twins study, and the applications of twins study to linkage and association studies of complex diseases or traits were reviewed.