Genomewide association studies are increasingly being applied to search for novel genes that might underlie cardiovascular diseases. In this article, we briefly review the principles that underlie modern genetic analyses and provide several illustrations from the SardiNIA study of genomewide association studies for cardiovascular risk factor traits.
Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.