By matching the genetic profiles of these people to information on birth weight, the researchers could identify sixty regions of the genome that were clearly driving differences in birthweight. They then analysed data from previous studies on conditions including diabetes and heart disease, and found that many of the same genomic regions were implicated. Dr Momoko Horikoshi, from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford, first author on the paper, continued, "Our results point to the key role played by genetic differences in connecting variation in early growth to future risk of disease.