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Abstract:
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Membership in the same population or family leads to genetic similarities among individuals, and the characterization of these similarities underlies much of population, quantitative, and forensic genetics. The framework of 15 patterns of identity by descent at each locus for two related individuals has been known for many years, but it is only the recent explosion in the quantity of genetic marker data that has made estimation of these components feasible. It is now possible to use several hundred markers, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and simple likelihood methodology to place people correctly into one of several populations or to distinguish between relatives with only small relationship differences. The first activity can help identify risk factors for human diseases, and the second can aid in the identification of remains following mass disasters.
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