Genetics of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Current Status and Future Directions

The genetic analysis of complex diseases has become a mainstream biomedical research goal. The methods for genetically dissecting human diseases have now evolved into an integrated science combining human genetics, functional genomics, high-throughput experimental technology and computational techniques. The inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) feature prominently in this field, and the realm of IBD genetics is continually and exponentially increasing. The present review will summarize and put into perspective the breadth of IBD genetics as it has evolved over the past 10 years, and will give the reader some sense of anticipation as to where it may be leading us.