A Tag SNP Selection Method Based on Haplotype Recognition

In association study based on Haplotype, some methods use a small amount of SNP to capture most variations of different samples' haplotypes which are known as Tag SNPs. Currently, there are many methods for tag SNP selection. However, these methods still exist deficiencies, mainly in these aspects: high time complexity and high compactness degree of tag SNP subsets which will lead to high cost in the following genetic association. In order to improve the efficiency of search space and attain the smallest number of tag SNPs, this paper not only designs the ant colony algorithm for path selection operator but also improves the heuristic function to seek the best combination of tag SNP subsets. The experimental results show that the method have certain advantages in the time complexity and compactness degree of tag SNP subsets.