Genetic linkage analysis is a statistical technique used to map genes and find the approximate location of disease genes. There was a standard software package for genetic linkage called LINKAGE. FASTLINK is a significantly modified and improved version of the main programs of LINKAGE that runs much faster sequentially, can run in parallel, allows the user to recover gracefully from a computer crash, and provides abundant new documentation. FASTLINK has been used in over 1000 published genetic linkage studies.

This package contains the following programs: ilink: GEMINI optimization procedure to find a locally optimal value of the theta vector of recombination fractions linkmap: calculates location scores of one locus against a fixed map of other loci lodscore: compares likelihoods at locally optimal theta mlink: calculates lod scores and risk with two of more loci unknown: identify possible genotypes for unknowns