Study, linkage

A study aimed at establishing linkage between genes. Linkage is the tendency for genes and other genetic markers to be inherited together because of their location near one another on the same chromosome. A gene is a functional physical unit of heredity that can be passed from parent to child. All genes in humans are pieces of DNA. Most genes contain information for making a specific protein. The term "genetic marker" is broader than a gene. A genetic marker is simply a segment of DNA with an identifiable physical location on a chromosome whose inheritance can be followed. A genetic marker can have a function and thus be a gene. Or a marker can be a section of DNA with no known function. Because DNA segments that lie near each other on a chromosome tend to be inherited together, markers are often used as tools for tracking the inheritance pattern of a gene that has not yet been identified but whose approximate location is known. The statistical estimate of whether two loci are likely to lie near each other on a chromosome and are therefore likely to be inherited together is called a LOD score. A LOD score of 3 or more is generally taken to indicate that the two loci are linked and are close to one another. Today linkage studies serve as ways of gene-hunting and genetic testing.