Genetic determinants of coronary heart disease: new discoveries and insights from genome-wide association studies

With the advent of the Human Genome Project and the genomic era, new tools and methodologies have revitalised genetic research into coronary heart disease (CHD). Unprecedented collaborative efforts are discovering novel risk variants for CHD, with most in hitherto unknown molecular pathways. These findings have stimulated a plethora of follow-up of functional and risk prediction studies to mine this wealth of new data. This review will explore the current state of knowledge of the genetic basis of CHD, with an emphasis on recent genomic studies and how these may eventually lead to the promised goals of new therapeutics and personalised medicine.