Previous studies have demonstrated that variants of SLC16A11 are associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Latin American populations. A new study has investigated this association in 12,811 people from North American Indian populations. In this analysis, the rs75493593 A allele was found to be associated with T2DM. The risk allele was strongly associated with BMI, which meant that the association between the allele and T2DM was stronger in lean individuals than in those with a high BMI. The researchers also analysed global gene expression data from adipose tissue, skeletal muscle and whole blood. They found that the rs75493593 A allele was associated with the expression of the RNASEK gene (located close to SLC16A11), which suggests that expression of this gene could mediate the effects of the genotype on the risk of T2DM.