Variations on a Theme: Cataloging Human DNA Sequence Variation

New methods for the discovery and scoring of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) offer the potential for considerably improved methods for genetic analysis of complex biological phenomena, particularly common diseases. In this Policy Forum, the authors call for a publicly supported effort to discover a large number of SNPs and to place the information in public databases. Participation in this public effort by the private sector would be particularly desirable.