Identifying type 2 diabetes susceptibility genes in the Mexican population

Type 2 diabetes is present in epidemic proportions in Native American and Mexican-American populations. In the US, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Native Americans and Latinos is higher than in non-Hispanic whites. The prevalence of diabetes-related complications is also very high in these populations. Similarly, in Canada, the type 2 diabetes rates in Aboriginal communities is 3 to 5 times higher than in the general population (http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ccdpc-cpcmc/diabetes-diabete/english/facts/index.html).

In collaboration with Dr. Miguel Cruz, from the Medical Center "Siglo XXI" from Mexico City (Mexico), we are carrying out a project aimed at identifying type 2 diabetes genetic susceptibility factors in a sample from Mexico. In this project, we have used high density microarrays (Affymetrix 5.0) to genotype hundreds of thousands of genetic markers throughout the genome, and we are applying different genome-wide approaches (Genome-wide Association and Admixture Mapping) to identify genes that increase susceptibility to type 2 diabetes in the Mexican population.