Genetics of kidney disease

Perhaps nothing in the fields of medicine and nephrology is moving more rapidly than genetics. From this movement are opportunities for discovery, new therapy, and better counseling for patients. At a level of basic science, renal medicine has been a consistent contributor to this emerging discipline, but our current approach to training in the methods and uses of human genetics probably will not keep up with the technology, nor the needs of the modern bedside practitioner. The facile use of genetics in the next century will require the construction and exploration of new disease models, rededication to human informatics, and teaching the language of molecular and population genomics.