title: Challenges in elucidating the genetics of diabetic retinopathy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In the past decade, significant progress in genomic medicine and technologic developments has revolutionized our approach to common complex disorders in many areas of medicine, including ophthalmology. A disorder that still needs major genetic progress is diabetic retinopathy (DR), one of the leading causes of blindness in adults.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To perform a literature review, present the current findings, and highlight some key challenges in DR genetics.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a thorough literature review of the genetic factors for DR, including heritability scores, twin studies, family studies, candidate gene studies, linkage studies, and genome-wide association studies (GWASs).
  
  
  METHODS
  Environmental and genetic factors for DR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although there is clear demonstration of a genetic contribution in the development and progression of DR, the identification of susceptibility loci through candidate gene approaches, linkage studies, and GWASs is still in its infancy. The greatest obstacles remain a lack of power because of small sample size of available studies and a lack of phenotype standardization.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The field of DR genetics is still in its infancy and is a challenge because of the complexity of the disease. This review outlines some strategies and lessons for future investigation to improve our understanding of this complex genetic disorder.
authors.affiliation: Medical Genetics Institute and Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California2Department of Ophthalmology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla3Department of Ophthalmology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and.
authors.forename: Jane Z
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore5Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Tien Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Medical Genetics Institute and Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California6Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences, Los Angeles Bio Medical Research Institute, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, To.
authors.forename: Jerome I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Rotter
mesh_terms: D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000235:genetics*; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D008967:Molecular Biology; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D059467:Transcriptome; D018433:Twin Studies as Topic