In a study published in the journal Nature, researchers identified 27 new genomic variants associated with conditions such as blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, cigarette use and chronic kidney disease in diverse populations. The team collected data from 49,839 African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Native Hawaiian, Native American and people who identified as others and were not defined by those ethnic groups.

The study aimed to better understand how genomic variants influence the risk of forming certain diseases in people of different ethnic groups. The work was funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, both parts of the National Institutes of Health.