We immediately recognized that the phenotype in Rbm20 knockout (KO) rats resembled, at least in some respects, that previously reported in individuals with DCM caused by pathogenic genetic variants in RBM20 with cardiac remodeling, increased susceptibility to arrhythmia, and premature mortality (Brauch et al. 2009). Here, RBM20 is linked to familial dilated cardiomyopathy.