Genetics in liver diseases

In recent years, few fields in medicine have witnessed discoveries as momentous as those pertaining to the liver. Dramatic advances have been made, particularly in the areas of molecular biology and genetics. A joint EASL/AASLD Monothematic Conference was held on June 23rd-24th, 2006, in Modena, Italy, to bring the latest breakthroughs in different fields of genetics to hepatologists. This article reports the highlights of the conference and summarizes the main conclusions and implications for clinical and experimental Hepatology.