- The risk factors for type 2 diabetes are both environmental and genetic, and researchers have identified many genetic risk factors to date.
- Now, however, the largest ever genome-wide association study of people with type 2 diabetes has discovered even more locations of risk variants than before.
- It has also identified different clusters of variants that contribute to the risk of developing the disease, revealing more about the different mechanisms that underpin the disease.
Genome-wide association studies have been possible since the human genome was first sequenced in 2003. They allow us to understand which regions of the genome and genetic variants are associated with increased risk of certain conditions.
Coupled with the advent of cell maps and genomic libraries, it is now possible for researchers to identify not only the variants that could impact risk, but also understand what they control and the cellular mechanisms that they play a role in.
So what can genetic markers teach us about widespread conditions, such as type 2 diabetes? That is what the researchers conducting a new study — whose results now appear in
Type 2 diabetes is characterized by reduced insulin sensitivity of cells, which means they are less able to take up glucose in the bloodstream.
This leads to the chronically elevated blood glucose (sugar) levels, which can increase the risk of complications, such as cardiovascular disease and nerve damage.
There are many known risk factors for type 2 diabetes, including family members having it, being of African or Asian ancestry, high blood pressure, obesitym and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), among others.
Genome-wide association studies have revealed some other interesting links between type 2 diabetes and other conditions. For example, a study in 2023 showed that a number of genetic risk variants were shared by type 2 diabetes and depressive symptoms.
Prof. Inga Prokopenko, who studies the impact of genetics on…
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