Tan Qihua, Kruse Torben A, Christensen Kaare
Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Genetics, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.
Ageing Res Rev. 2006 Nov;5(4):371-87. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2005.10.002. Epub 2005 Dec 6.
With the success of the Human Genome Project and taking advantage of the recent developments in high-throughput genotyping techniques as well as in functional genomics, it is now feasible to collect vast quantities of genetic data with the aim of deciphering the genetics of human complex traits. As a result, the amount of research on human ageing and longevity has been growing rapidly in recent years. The situation raises questions concerning efficient choice of study population, sampling schemes, and methods of data analysis. In this article, we summarize the key issues in genetic studies of human ageing and longevity ranging from research design to statistical analyses. We discuss the virtues and drawbacks of the multidisciplinary approaches including the population-based cross-sectional and cohort studies, family-based linkage analysis, and functional genomics studies. Different analytical approaches are illustrated with their performances compared. In addition, important research topics are highlighted together with experiment design and data analyzing issues to serve as references for future studies.
随着人类基因组计划的成功，并借助高通量基因分型技术以及功能基因组学的最新进展，如今为了解析人类复杂性状的遗传学而收集大量遗传数据已成为可能。因此，近年来关于人类衰老和长寿的研究数量一直在迅速增长。这种情况引发了有关研究人群的有效选择、抽样方案以及数据分析方法的问题。在本文中，我们总结了从研究设计到统计分析的人类衰老和长寿遗传研究中的关键问题。我们讨论了多学科方法的优缺点，包括基于人群的横断面研究和队列研究、基于家系的连锁分析以及功能基因组学研究。通过比较不同分析方法的性能来说明它们。此外，还突出了重要的研究主题以及实验设计和数据分析问题，以为未来的研究提供参考。
