title: Genetics of the Framingham Heart Study population.
abstract: This chapter provides an introduction to the Framingham Heart Study and the genetic research related to cardiovascular diseases conducted in this unique population. It briefly describes the origins of the study, the risk factors that contribute to heart disease, and the approaches taken to discover the genetic basis of some of these risk factors. The genetic architecture of several biological risk factors has been explained using family studies, segregation analysis, heritability, and phenotypic and genetic correlations. Many quantitative trait loci underlying cardiovascular diseases have been discovered using different molecular markers. Additionally, initial results from genome-wide association studies using 116,000 markers and the prospects of using 550,000 markers for association studies are presented. Finally, the use of this unique sample to study genotype and environment interactions is described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118.
authors.forename: Diddahally R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Govindaraju
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02118.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Adrienne Cupples
authors.affiliation: NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702.
authors.forename: William B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Kannel
authors.affiliation: NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118; Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02118.
authors.forename: Larry D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Atwood
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02118; NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702.
authors.forename: Ralph B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: D'Agostino
authors.affiliation: NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702.
authors.forename: Caroline S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.affiliation: NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702.
authors.forename: Marty
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.affiliation: NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.affiliation: NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702; Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118.
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Murabito
authors.affiliation: NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702; Department of Cardiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118; Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02118.
authors.forename: Ramachandran S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Vasan
authors.affiliation: NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702.
authors.forename: Greta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lee Splansky
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118.
authors.forename: Philip A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.affiliation: NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts 01702; Department of Cardiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118; Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02118.
authors.forename: Emelia J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Benjamin
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D015988:Cohort Effect; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004777:Environment; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005828:Genetics, Population / Q000941:ethics; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D040582:Inheritance Patterns; D008404:Massachusetts / Q000453:epidemiology; D044382:Population Groups / Q000235:genetics