Interestingly, several of these genes e.g. CLEC16A, ELAVL4 (also known as HuD), FOXO3, FST, GLIS3, MTNR1B, PARK2, WFS1 and ZMIZ1 have previously been associated with T2D by GWAS and/or found to affect islet function7,33–40. This evidence concerns the gene FOXO3 and type 2 diabetes mellitus.