Novartis, The Broad Institute, and Lund University has announced the completion of a genome-wide map of genetic differences in humans and their relationship to type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders. All results of the analysis are being made accessible, free of charge on the Internet to scientists around the world.

The work is the result of a pioneering public-private collaboration known as the Diabetes Genetics Initiative (DGI), which was formed in 2004 and is aimed at deciphering the genetic causes of type 2 diabetes. The collaboration brings together diverse expertise in diabetes and metabolic disease, human genetics, genomics, statistical analysis, and drug development.

"These discoveries are but a first step. To translate this study's provocative identification of diabetes-related genes into the invention of new medicines will require a global effort. We hope many will race to do so," said Mark Fishman, president of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. "We hope as well that others adopt this novel and effective mode of open collaboration between scientists and physicians, in business and academia, and dedicate work to our patients by making the data quickly and freely available to all."

Type 2 diabetes and related cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, are among the most common and significant public health challenges in the industrialized world. Their incidence continues to climb despite advances in biomedicine, highlighting the need for new insights into the disorders' root causes and novel strategies for prevention and treatment. Although type 2 diabetes clearly runs in families, suggesting the importance of inherited factors, its genetic origins remain largely unclear.

"The Human Genome Project, HapMap database, and new genomic tools have made it possible for the first time to screen the genome for DNA variations that contribute to common diseases," said principal investigator David Altshuler, director of the Programme in Medical and Population Genetics at The Broad Institute and an associate professor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. "Since diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors are influenced by many genes, environment, and behaviour, these powerful new tools are required to pick up the effect of any one genetic risk factor."