Creating a genetic risk score for coronary artery disease

Coronary artery disease (CAD) and its sequelae represent a significant health burden. Over the past two decades, numerous studies have attempted to link DNA sequence variation with the risk of CAD and related phenotypes. There has been significant evolution in technology from the early linkage studies within kindreds, and now we are able to use high-density genotyping to facilitate large-scale genome-wide association studies. The first novel genetic risk factor for CAD, 9p21.3, has been confirmed, and other loci are awaiting replication studies. The relative importance of each locus from a global standpoint and the incremental information conferred by testing for genetic variants remain to be determined.