Today, there is much excitement about whole-genome association studies to look at the genetic basis of disease or drug response. However, scientists don't agree on how many SNPs are needed, whether they should be random or haplotypes tagging. The answer will vary by population and disease. The 100K is the first in a family of products from Affymetrix to enable whole-genome association studies. Future products can be added to get more SNPs if needed. It is a good place to start, has a good chance to find some things, but may not find everything. The Mapping 100K is particularly suited for

• want to be the first to clone genes after whole-genome association studies
• want to begin studies to get initial results with the ability to add additional SNP
  density in future products
• want to get initial results while establishing the genotyping infrastructure on the
  platform, including the analysis pipeline and database structure in anticipation of
  future products with complementary SNPs at higher density