Diabetes mellitus is often accompanied by numerous microvascular and/or macrovascular complications. Identification of risk alleles for diabetic complications could lead to improved understanding of the underlying mechanistic processes, but has so far been limited. Here, McCarthy and colleagues discuss the utility of human genetic studies in identifying novel risk variants for diabetic complications, the challenges faced in identifying robust genetic associations for diabetic kidney disease and the benefits that genome-wide association studies can offer.
- Emma Ahlqvist
- Natalie R. van Zuydam
- Mark I. McCarthy
