The genetics of type 1 diabetes: Lessons learned and future challenges

It has been more than 30 years since the first evidence was published suggesting the involvement of a specific chromosomal region, HLA, in modulating the risk for type 1 diabetes (T1D). In the intervening years, what have we learned regarding the identities of specific loci that modulate T1D risk, and what lessons have these studies provided that might be helpful in finding and characterizing additional susceptibility loci both for T1D and other autoimmune disorders? In the following review, we briefly address these issues.