Blood pressure is a complex quantitative trait that is determined by multiple environmental
and genetic factors. Although some simple Mendelian forms of high blood pressure have
been described, essential hypertension is characterized by a complex mode of inheritance.
Based on recent advances in molecular biology and statistical genetics, it has become
feasible to search for chromosome regions that may contain genes contributing to the
pathogenesis of hypertension in humans. For example, recent linkage and association …