title: Dorothy Hodgkin Lecture 2010. From hype to hope? A journey through the genetics of Type 2 diabetes.
abstract: Recent advances in genetic analysis have enabled researchers to perform genome-wide surveys for common DNA sequence variants associated with risk of Type 2 diabetes and related traits. Over the past 4 years, these endeavours have extended the number of proven Type 2 diabetes-susceptibility loci from a handful to the current total of over 40. Each of these loci provides an opportunity to uncover insights into the biology of glucose regulation and the pathogenesis of Type 2 diabetes, insights which should support clinical translation to identify novel ways of treating and preventing disease. Here, I describe (i) progress in identification of diabetes-susceptibility loci; (ii) biological insights that have been gained in the relatively short period since these loci were discovered; and (iii) the challenges that need to be addressed if we are to maximize the translational benefits of this research.
authors.affiliation: Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford and Oxford NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Churchill Hospital, Old Road, Headington, Oxford, UK. mark.mccarthy@drl.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: McCarthy
mesh_terms: D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000235:genetics*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans