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Genomic science: what are the implications for personalized diabetes care?

Ravi Kant & Kristi Silver

Developments in personalized medicine are adding to the clinician’s armamentarium and will allow for more individualized care for diabetes patients. The discovery of mutations causing many forms of monogenic diabetes now allows for the design of patient/mutation-specific targeted interventions. While many genetic loci are associated with Type 1 and 2 diabetes, and diabetes complications, these variants only modestly add to risk; therefore, genetic risk assessment for diabetes and its complications is not currently recommended in clinical practice. Genetic variants are also associated with drug metabolism, efficacy and side effects. Clinical studies are required to determine if genotype information improves day-to-day clinical management of diabetes and our overall approach to clinical practice. While the development of personalized medicine is promising for the future, a number of challenges remain that will need to be overcome before personalized medicine becomes standard of care in Type 1 and 2 diabetes management.