The VNTR in complex disorders: The forgotten polymorphisms? A functional way forward?

• VNTR plays a role in complex disorders.
• VNTRs may have functional consequences.
• VNTR should be considered more in research of complex disorders.

In the last few years, research has focused on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the search for underlying genetic aetiology of complex disorders. This has been afforded by the rapid technological advancement to enable the interrogation of hundreds of thousands of SNPs in one assay via microarrays. However SNPs are only one form of genetic variation and in the midst of the Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) explosion Variable Number Tandem Repeat (VNTR) polymorphism exploration has seemingly been left behind. This review will argue that VNTR investigations still hold substantial potential for a role in complex disorders via possible functional properties.