Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Genetics

Unraveling the genetics of autoimmune disease

The ability to conduct genetic association studies on a genome-wide scale has revolutionized approaches to reveal the genetic basis of autoimmune diseases. A comparison by Zhernakova and colleagues of the known susceptibility genes in 11 immune-related diseases reveals evidence for shared gene effects and common pathogenetic mechanisms.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium. Genome-wide association study of 14,000 cases of seven common diseases and 3,000 shared controls. Nature 447, 661–678 (2007).

  2. Barrett, J. C. & Cardon, L. R. Evaluating coverage of genome-wide association studies. Nat. Genet. 38, 659–662 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Zhernakova, A., van Diemen, C. C. & Wijmenga, C. Detecting shared pathogenesis from the shared genetics of immune-related diseases. Nat. Rev. Genet. 10, 43–55 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Vyse, T. Unraveling the genetics of autoimmune disease. Nat Rev Rheumatol 5, 187–188 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2009.42

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2009.42

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing