Genetics in multiple sclerosis: Updates in the era of big data

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis is a complex disease where both genetics and environmental factors play critical roles in its susceptibility. The contribution of genetics has been proven by familial studies, but there still exists missing heritability. Big data science has been a novel approach in research, including multiple sclerosis genetics, and multiple tools to handle those big data have been developed for researchers in different fields: from tools with a user-friendly graphical user interface to more professional tools with a text user interface. In this era of big data, it is important to accelerate collaborative studies with researchers of distinct professions, such as bioinformaticians, statisticians, geneticists and computational biologists.