Lyle J. Palmer is Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Toronto, Canada.Paul R Burton is Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at the University of Leicester, UK.George Davey Smith is Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Bristol, UK.

• Key concepts in genetic epidemiology ~ Paul R Burton, Martin D Tobin and John L Hopper; Genetic linkage studies ~ M Dawn Teare and Jennifer H. Barrett; Genetic association studies ~ Heather J. Cordell and David G. Clayton; Mapping complex disease genes using linkage disequilibrium and genome-wide association scans ~ Lyle J Palmer, Nicholas J Timpson, David M Evans, George Davey Smith and Lon R Cardon; A question of standards: what makes a good genetic association study? ~ Andrew T Hattersley and Mark I McCarthy; Biobanks and biobank harmonisation ~ Paul R Burton, Isabel Fortier, Mylene Deschênes, Anna Hansell and Lyle J Palmer; Population health aspects of genetic epidemiology: genomic profiling, personalised medicine, and Mendelian randomisation ~ George Davey Smith, Shah Ebrahim, Sarah Lewis and Lyle J Palmer.

"This is a sobering must-read for anyone who wishes to know how genetic epidemiology may change how we understand, treat or prevent human disease." Robert Elston, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine