The Interface between Epidemiology and Molecular Biology in the Search for the Causes of Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus

Epidemiological techniques have been utilized to accumulate new knowledge about insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), leading to important insights into the disease process and the alteration of these mechanisms when viewed from a geographic or population base. More recently, highly powerful and sophisticated techniques of molecular biology have been added to the research arsenal, extending the knowledge on the genetic basis for IDDM and the probable environmental factors involved. The development and growth of the new discipline of epidemiological genetics promises exciting new developments for the future of our field as well as that of other major medical problems having a genetic base, but significantly influenced by environmental factors. This review stresses the importance of carefully validated diabetes registries in the study of the epidemiology of IDDM. The Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have spearheaded the development of such registries, w...