Common variants in the potassium inwardly rectifying channel, subfamily J, member 11 (KCNJ11) and ATP-binding cassette, sub-family C, member 8 (ABCC8) genes, that encode channel subunits Kir6.2 and SUR1, were identified as T2D susceptibility loci. Here, KCNJ11 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.