genetics

GAMETES is an algorithm for the generation of complex single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) models for simulated association studies. GAMETES is designed to generate epistatic models which we refer to as pure and strict. These models constitute the worst-case in terms of detecting disease associations, since such associations may only be observed if all n loci are included in the disease model. The user-friendly GAMETES software rapidly and precisely generates epistatic multi-locus models, and using these models, can also generate simulated datasets exhibiting epistasis. Version 2.2 adds the ability to generate heterogeneous datasets by applying multiple independent models to different subsets of the simulated data. Further additional features include the facility to create additive datasets by applying multiple independent models to the entire dataset, as well as functionality for the design of continuous endpoints. Additionally, we have added a custom model generation feature, so that users may directly specify and examine the properties of any 2 or 3 locus SNP model. Simple Mendelian models may also be generated with this feature.