“…SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) and InDels (insertion-deletion markers), the most common heritable variations in the human genome, have been extensively applied to the analysis of disease genetics, population genetics, forensic medicine, pharmacogenomics, and biodiversity as the third generation of genetic markers, and they will continue to play important roles in the development of life sciences. − To facilitate relevant research studies, many methods were developed for SNPs/InDels detection, which can be generally divided into two types: (1) The gel-based methods with low throughput, including restriction enzyme fragment length polymorphic analysis (RFLP), single-strand conformational polymorphic analysis (SSCP), denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), conformation sensitive gel electrophoresis (CSGE), oligonucleotide link analysis (OLA), and allele-specific polymerase chain reaction analysis (ASP). These methods have the advantages of simple equipment requirements and low costs but are limited by their tedious operations, long analysis periods, and low throughputs. − (2) The high throughput methods follow the principle of allele-specific site hybridization (ASH), mass spectrometry (MS), , denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC), allele-specific site primer extension (ASPE), single base extension (SBCE), or target sequencing. − For instance, the SNaPshot − and TaqMan OpenArray systems − have been used for high-throughput screening of SNPs, , while the GoldenGate platform can detect 1536 SNPs at one time. These methods have significantly improved throughputs but rely highly on costly instruments and need many samples to decrease the cost for each sample.…”