Complex Genetics of Type 2 Diabetes and Effect Size: What have We Learned from Isolated Populations?

ABSTRACT: Genetic studies in large outbred populations have documented a complex, highly polygenic basis for type 2 diabetes (T2D). Most of the variants currently known to be associated with T2D risk have been identified in large studies that included tens of thousands of individuals who are representative of a single major ethnic group such as European, Asian, or African. However, most of these variants have only modest effects on the risk for T2D; identification of definitive 'causal variant' or 'causative loci' is typically lacking. Studies in isolated populations offer several advantages over outbred populations despite being, on average, much smaller in sample size. For example, reduced genetic variability, enrichment of rare variants, and a more uniform environment and lifestyle, which are hal

SUBMITTER: Nair AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5275756 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Fall-Winter

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature