Large-scale study reveals genetic risk of diabetes in the Japanese population

Researchers at Osaka University, the University of Tokyo, RIKEN, and others performed a meta-analysis using data on over 36,000 Japanese sufferers of type 2 diabetes (T2D) from four genome-wide association studies to identify genetic factors linked to this disease. Findings revealed 88 associated genomic loci, including 28 novel ones. Several mutations linked to T2D for the Japanese population in this study are absent from Europeans, suggesting the potential for Japanese- or Asian-specific treatments of T2D. Read more