Algorithms and inferences: The challenge of multifactorial diseases

Journal Article · Sat Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1997 · American Journal of Human Genetics

OSTI ID:518503

Elston, R C ^[1]

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1. Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH (United States)

On learning that I was to receive the Allan Award for 1996, I had mixed feelings of elation, dismay, and surprise. Elation, because receiving the Allan Award is an honor bestowed on so few; dismay, because I realized that it would mean I would have to face this audience with something interesting to say; and surprise, because the decision to give me the award must have been made shortly after Kevin Davis, the editor of Nature Genetics, published the following statement regarding a letter I had just coauthored: {open_quotes}We disagree with this approach for three reasons. It is intellectually wrong. . . . It is historically inconsistent. It is technically antediluvian{close_quotes}. The letter I had coauthored concerned the {open_quotes}genetic dissection of complex traits,{close_quotes} a subject that has in recent years received a surge of interest. I felt certain that the Awards Committee would want me to give an address on a topic of current interest, and what could be of more current interest in the area I am known to work in? And why would my views on this topic be of any interest if they are intellectually wrong, historically inconsistent, and technically antediluvian? So what should I talk about? 17 refs., 6 figs., 2 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 518503
• Journal Information: American Journal of Human Genetics, Journal Name: American Journal of Human Genetics Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 60; ISSN 0002-9297; ISSN AJHGAG
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

55 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
BASIC STUDIES
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
ALGORITHMS
BIOLOGICAL MARKERS
COMPUTER CODES
GENES
GENETIC MAPPING
GENETICS
HEREDITARY DISEASES
HUMAN CHROMOSOMES
HUMAN POPULATIONS
PROBABILISTIC ESTIMATION
STATISTICS