Genes That Link Nephritis to Autoantibodies and Innate Immunity

Abstract

The rapid evolution of array techniques and the completion of the map of the human genome have led to a host of genomewide association studies over the past few years. Yet many of these studies have been disappointing; they identify genes that confer only a moderate increase in risk and explain only a small fraction of the known hereditary characteristics of the diseases.1 However, the results of genomewide association studies for idiopathic membranous nephropathy conducted by Stanescu and coworkers, reported in this issue of the Journal, are more striking than usual.2 The authors report highly significant associations between membranous nephropathy . . .