Genome–wide association studies provide new insights into type 2 diabetes aetiology

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes has been described as a geneticist's nightmare. Following a recent spate of impressive results from genome-wide association studies, the author looks at how they have advanced our understanding of this disease and informed future use of this approach towards identifying genetic variants in general. Human geneticists are currently in the middle of a race. Thanks to a new technology in the form of 'genome-wide chips', investigators can potentially find many novel disease genes in one large experiment. Type 2 diabetes has been hot out of the blocks with six recent publications that together provide convincing evidence for six new gene regions involved in the condition. Together with candidate approaches, these studies have identified 11 confirmed genomic regions that alter the risk of type 2 diabetes in the European population. One of these regions, the fat mass and obesity associated gene (FTO), represents by far the best example of an association between common variation and fat mass in the general population.