HapMap Data

The primary purpose of the International HapMap Project, as described on the Project's web site (www.hapmap.org) and in the recent paper on the Project (Nature 426:789-796, Dec. 18, 2003), is to develop and publish a global analysis of patterns of polymorphism and of linkage disequilibrium and use this information to guide selection of tag SNPs across the entire human genome. As is now standard practice in large-scale genomic research projects, the International HapMap Consortium follows a policy of releasing data as quickly as possible, anticipating that they will be useful for many investigators. The Consortium anticipates that the Project's data will be used in many ways, such as for developing new analytical methods, in understanding patterns of polymorphism, linkage disequilibrium, and haplotype associations, and in guiding selection of markers to map genes affecting specific diseases. Thus, the Consortium recognizes that the data are available to all users for any purpose.