Multipoint mapping and the emperor's clothes.

On the hypothesis of no interference, pedigree probabilities for segregating loci considered simultaneously factor into pairwise probabilities, and multipoint mapping reduces to multiple pairwise mapping. Under these conditions, use of a computer program such as linkage or mapmaker entails no gain but substantial loss (measured as map distortion, wasted data, concealed evidence, redundant calculation and exaggerated multiple recombination) by comparison with maps based on lod scores. This is illustrated by the current maps of chromosomes 1 and 2.