Molecular technologies that combine polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with fluorescent probes have been successful in identifying a huge variety of SNPs, but there do exist target sequences in which the power of DNA probes is not sufficient to discern differences between two alleles of a biallelic gene locus. In this Perspective, Op den Buijsch et al (pp 72–74) describe their successful attempt to improve the discriminative power of a sensor probe using a real-time PCR fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay with a locked nucleic acid (LNA) on the position of a PXR polymorphism.
New technologies and genomic resources promise to make association studies more successful in identifying genetic contributors to disease susceptibility and drug response. To get to this point, nonprofit funders and biotechnology companies are investing in emerging infrastructures such as prospective cohorts and biobanks. These initiatives are being developed with data from a limited number of populations, but not all groups may prove suitable for this approach. In their EELS article, Foster and Sharp (pp 75–80) ask which populations and phenotypes may benefit in the upcoming era of large-scale association studies.
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