Review

Nature Reviews Genetics 7, 163-173 (March 2006) | doi:10.1038/nrg1805

Genetic susceptibility to coronary artery disease: from promise to progress

Hugh Watkins1 & Martin Farrall1  About the authors

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Family history is an important independent risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD), and identification of susceptibility genes for this common, complex disease is a vital goal. Although there has been considerable success in identifying genetic variants that influence well-known risk factors, such as cholesterol levels, progress in unearthing novel CAD genes has been slow. However, advances are now being made through the application of large-scale, systematic, genome-wide approaches. Recent findings particularly highlight the link between CAD and inflammation and immunity, and highlight the biological insights to be gained from a genetic understanding of the world's biggest killer.

Author affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiovascular Medicine and Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.

Correspondence to: Hugh Watkins1 Email: hugh.watkins@cardiov.ox.ac.uk

Published online 7 February 2006

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