Recent advances and perspectives in next generation sequencing application to the genetic research of type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) mellitus is a common complex disease that currently affects more than 400 million people worldwide and has become a global health problem. High-throughput sequencing technologies such as whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing approaches have provided numerous new insights into the molecular bases of T2D. Recent advances in the application of sequencing technologies to T2D research include, but are not limited to: (1) Fine mapping of causal rare and common genetic variants; (2) Identification of confident gene-level associations; (3) Identification of novel candidate genes by specific scoring approaches; (4) Interrogation of disease-relevant genes and pathways by transcriptional profiling and epigenome mapping techniques; and (5) Investigation of microbial community alterations in patients with T2D. In this work we review these advances in application of next-generation sequencing methods for elucidation of T2D pathogenesis, as well as progress and challenges in implementation of this new knowledge about T2D genetics in diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of the disease.