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Putting the Genome in Context: Gene-Environment Interactions in Type 2 Diabetes

  • Genetics (AP Morris, Section Editor)
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Abstract

The genome is often the conduit through which environmental exposures convey their effects on health and disease. Whilst not all diseases act by directly perturbing the genome, the phenotypic responses are often genetically determined. Hence, whilst diseases are often defined has having differing degrees of genetic determination, genetic and environmental factors are, with few exceptions, inseparable features of most diseases, not least type 2 diabetes. It follows that to optimize diabetes, prevention and treatment will require that the etiological roles of genetic and environmental risk factors be jointly considered. As we discuss here, studies focused on quantifying gene-environment and gene-treatment interactions are gathering momentum and may eventually yield data that helps guide health-related choices and medical interventions for type 2 diabetes and other complex diseases.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank M-F Hivert (Boston, MA) and F Renström (Malmö, Sweden) for thoughtful comments on this manuscript. The ideas and perspectives described in the paper are those of the authors unless otherwise stated; however, these views have evolved through many previous and ongoing interactions with trainees and peers. PWF specifically thanks N Wareham (Cambridge, UK), P Kraft (Boston, MA), CA Franks (Vejbystrand, Sweden), R Hanson (Phoenix, AZ), and members of the Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Unit (Malmö, Sweden) for many illuminating discussions around the topic of gene-environment interactions. The authors also thank the editors (JC Florez and AP Morris) for helpful feedback on this paper and D Shungin for input on Fig. 2. PWF was supported by grants from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Swedish Research Council, Swedish Diabetes Association, Påhlssons Foundation, Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation, EXODIAB, Region Skåne, the Medical Faculty of Umeå University, the Innovative Medicines Initiative of the European Union (grant agreement no. 115317—DIRECT), and the European Research Council. GP is supported by the Canada Research Chair in Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology and the CISCO Professorship in Integrated Health Systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Unit, Lund University Diabetes Center, Department of Clinical Sciences, Clinical Research Center, Skåne University Hospital Malmö, Lund University, Building 91, Level 10, Jan Waldenströms gata 35, 205 02, Malmö, Sweden

    Paul W. Franks

  2. Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, 90188, Umeå, Sweden

    Paul W. Franks

  3. Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Paul W. Franks

  4. Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton General Hospital Campus, DB-CVSRI, 237 Barton Street East, Room C3103, Hamilton, ON, L8L 2X2, Canada

    Guillaume Paré

  5. Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Guillaume Paré

  6. Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Population Genomics Program, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Guillaume Paré

  7. Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Guillaume Paré

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Correspondence to Paul W. Franks.

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Paul W. Franks has received consulting honoraria from Eli Lilly Inc and Sanofi Aventis in 2015.

Guillaume Paré declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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Franks, P.W., Paré, G. Putting the Genome in Context: Gene-Environment Interactions in Type 2 Diabetes. Curr Diab Rep 16, 57 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-016-0758-y

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