Current status and perspective of genome-based research for diabetes and its complications

Moon Sanghoon, Kim Bong-Jo*
Division of Genome Research, Center for Genome Science, KNIH, KCDC
Kwak Soo Heon, Park Kyong Soo,
Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital
Ahn Jeeyun,
Department of Ophthalmology, SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center
Park Kyu Hyung
Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul National Bundang Hospital

Background: In Korea, the disease burden of diabetes has been on the increase for the past three decades, showing 13.7% in the prevalence of adults aged >= 30 in 2016. Type 2 diabetes is a complex metabolic disorder resulting from both environmental and genetic factors. There is significant evidence that genetic factors play a role in the pathogenesis of diabetes, stemming from the fact that family history is a major risk factor for diabetes.
Current status: Advancements in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have enabled the identification of more than 100 independent genetic loci for type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, the identified common variants explain the limited range of genetic variation.
Future Perspective: We herein describe the current status and future plans of genome-based researches for diabetes and its complications at the domestic and international level. These on-going large-scaled international collaborative research activities would contribute to the better understanding of diabetes mechanism.

Keywords: Diabetes, Genome research, Metabolic disorder, Genome-wide association studies, Genetic variance