The Dawn of Human Matrilineal Diversity
The maternal genetic structure of the African people at the time of the out-of-Africa dispersal is incompletely understood. Behar et al. analyze complete mtDNA sequences from the Khoisan and related populations to establish the origin and timing of the development of the Khoisan mtDNA structure.

Corrected Odds Ratios for Genome Scans
Significant results of association scans are subject to what has become known as the "winner's curse," a bias in which the estimate of risk effect is inflated. Ghosh et al. establish an approach to correct for this bias that is computationally feasible for genome-wide data and that can be implemented using standard software.

Genome-wide Association of Expression
Gene expression can be controlled via variation by expression quantitative nucleotides (eQTNs) located near to or far from the gene. Duan et al. report a comprehensive evaluation of the effects of eQTNs on expression of transcripts throughout the genome in the CEU and YRI HapMap samples.

Genome-wide Association Study for CRP
Evaluating the levels of circulating C-reactive protein (CRP) in healthy individuals can serve as a means of predicting their risk of developing metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, or stroke. Ridker et al. and Reiner et al. perform genome-wide association studies using thousands of individuals. Strong significant signals are observed with SNPs in HNF1A, the gene encoding hepatocyte nuclear factor-1α.

ZNF469 Mutations in Brittle Cornea
People with brittle cornea syndrome (BCS) suffer from a variety of different issues including a very fragile cornea that is easily damaged, hypermobility of the joints, and hyperlaxity of the skin. Abu et al. fine-map the disease locus on 16q24 and detect mutations in ZNF469 in patients affected with BCS.