THE GENETICS OF AUTOIMMUNE DIABETES APPROACHING A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM

Molecular genetics has had a substantial impact on our understanding o f inherited susceptibility to insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. All eles at the HLA-DQA1 and DQB1 loci appear to have the greatest influen ce on diabetogenesis. Other promising loci are present on chromosome 1 1 in the vicinity of the insulin gene. We have sought not only to impr ove our prediction of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus but also to reveal the underlying immune and nonimmune defects that predispose to autoimmune beta-cell destruction. Continued advances in the field of g enetics will aid in the prevention of insulin-dependent diabetes melli tus, which is our ultimate goal.