To test the relative merits of SNPs and microsatellites for localizing genes that contribute to complex diseases and their risk factors, COGA has collaborated with GAW and Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR), who enlisted two companies (Affymetrix and Illumina) to generate genome screens using SNPs. CIDR has provided high throughput genotyping of short tandem repeats (STR) markers since 1997, currently providing 11 million STR genotypes per year. As SNP genotyping methods have become more affordable and more amenable to genotyping large numbers of SNPs and samples, CIDR wished to address both a perceived need in the statistical genetics community for additional research related to the analysis of large amounts of SNP data in pedigrees, and the need for CIDR to test high throughput SNP platforms to make an informed decision regarding SNP genotyping services. To address these needs CIDR, in conjunction with Affymetrix and Illumina, provided SNP genotyping of the COGA dataset for GAW14.
