Desmin is expressed in cardiac, skeletal, and smooth muscle, and many studies have shown that mutations in the human DES gene promote adult-onset skeletal myopathy and, depending on which mutation, one of the three types of familial cardiomyopathies, i.e., dilated, hypertrophic, and restrictive (Goldfarb and Dalakas, 2009). The gene discussed is DES; the disease is familial cardiomyopathy.