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I am currently interested in the individual differences in susceptibility to cancer. How does the genetic variation that exists in the human population manifest in differences in disease susceptibility? Will we be able to assess disease predisposition for most people at an early age so they can choose life styles or frequent screening that will lead to better health? Will there be an individualized medicine? In order to learn more about the principles underlying the genetic complexity of human phenotypes we can hope to learn again from yeast. Important questions are the number and identity of genes that can interact synergistically to generate a phenotype, the patterns in which they interact, and the fraction of natural polymorphisms that have functional consequences. An investigation of these questions in yeast might help identify the set of candidate genes that could be associated with a particular human disease. We still have a lot to learn from yeast and other model organisms about the nature of human disease.  Go to Comment Form