THE YEAR 1995-1996 IN REVIEW - GENETICALLY REENGINEERING CLINICAL NEPHROLOGY

The discipline of medical genetics is rapidly transforming the face of nephrology. A number of important advances have been made during the past year in the identification of the molecular basis of renal diseas es. This article will summarize how these new findings have expanded o ur understanding of whether diseases are homogeneous or heterogeneous entities (Bartter's syndrome versus Gitelman's syndrome), the medical basis of certain diseases of unclear etiology (enuresis), and the natu re of risk factors for disease occurrence or progression (IgA nephropa thy, chronic renal failure, and hemolytic uremic syndrome). It is anti cipated that these exciting discoveries will become routine in the nea r future as medical genetics is fully incorporated into the practice o f clinical nephrology.