For those of you who are still learning the techniques of linkage
analysis (and I include myself in that category), I would like to
bring to your attention an outstanding book:
Handbook of Human Genetic Linkage by J. Terwilliger and J. Ott
Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994.
The book gives a deep and detailed explanation of most of the
techniques of linkage analysis, illustrated throughout with
detailed examples of how to use the LINKAGE programs.
Almost all of the material that Terwilliger and Ott
have on LINKAGE applies verbatim to FASTLINK.
The stimulus for this message is that in recent days, several
prospective FASTLINK users have asked why FASTLINK does not come with
documentation that explains how to set up the input files and what the
outputs mean genetically. All these issues and many more are
covered at length in the book by Terwilliger and Ott.
In contrast, the documentation that comes with FASTLINK focuses on
installation, portability, differences between FASTLINK and LINKAGE,
and detailed descriptions of some algorithmic aspects of the software.
These issues are barely mentioned in the book.
Alejandro Schaffer
Rice University
