Research digest: genetics in cardiometabolic disease

Abstract

Some might argue that while considerable sums of research money have been invested in genetics over the past few decades, the translation to clinical benefit has been rather too limited. But might this be about to change? Certainly, the ability to map the genetic architecture has increased substantially over the past few years, while costs have plummeted such that a mere £30–40 can enable measurement of nearly a million genetic markers. Such developments have facilitated a dramatic increase in the numbers of research participants with reliably measured genotype data, leading in turn to heightened power to detect novel associations with disease outcomes. Consequently, two recent studies have revisited the ability of genetic signals to improve prediction of cardiovascular disease.