As discussed in the Introduction, the candidate gene approach is still widely used in association studies. Since knowledge of complex diseases is limited, a comprehensive list of candidate genes and a method of ranking those genes by their disease-relevance is important in designing a good association study. The 'Disease Candidate Genes' module is used to list and rank candidate genes by building a concept profile for the disease and comparing it with the profiles for each human gene. The resulting ranked list of candidate genes can be edited by the user, before further analysis. The Java graphical interface provides access to the resulting gene network, helping a user navigate through the relationships and associated data.
