title: Genetics of susceptibility to human infectious disease.
abstract: Before Robert Koch's work in the late nineteenth century, diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy were widely believed to be inherited disorders. Heritability of susceptibility to several infectious diseases has been confirmed by studies in the twentieth century. Infectious diseases, old and new, continue to be an important cause of mortality worldwide. A greater understanding of disease processes is needed if more effective therapies and more useful vaccines are to be produced. As part of this effort, developments in genetics have allowed a more systematic study of the impact that the human genome and infectious disease have on each other.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK. grahamc@well.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Cooke
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Hill
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000235:genetics*; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens