Genetic association is the occurrence, more often than can be readily explained by chance, of two or more traits in a population of individuals, of which at least one trait is known to be genetic.
Studies of genetic association aim to test whether single-locus alleles or genotype frequencies (or more generally, multilocus haplotype frequencies) differ between two groups of individuals (usually diseased subjects and healthy controls). Genetic association studies are based on the principle that genotypes can be compared "directly", i.e. with the sequences of the actual genomes.
Read more about Genetic Association: What Is Genetic Association?, Statistical Programs of Association Analysis
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