Genetics Research
The understanding of such complex diseases (and ultimately designing new agents to treat them) is an immense undertaking because of the amount of clinical data needed to produce statistically significant results.
Abstract
Research into the genetics of inherited epileptic disorders has made considerable progress in the last decade, with the identification of genes associated with welldefined, familial forms of epilepsy. It must be emphasised, however, that these types of epilepsy are rare or relatively uncommon, affecting only a few individuals. Some of the more common forms of epilepsy also tend to run in families. Their mode of inheritance is, however, more complex, with interaction between genetic and environmental influences determining an individual’s susceptibility to seizures (1). The understanding of such complex diseases (and ultimately designing new agents to treat them) is an immense undertaking because of the amount of clinical data needed to produce statistically significant results.