Social networking sites (SNS) have potential value in the field of medical genetics as a means of research subject recruitment and source of data. This article examines the current role of SNS in medical genetics research and potential applications for these sites in future studies. Facebook is the primary SNS considered, given the prevalence of its use in the United States and role in a small but growing number of studies. To date, utilization of SNS in medical genetics research has been primarily limited to three studies that recruited subjects from populations of Facebook users [McGuire et al. (2009); Am J Bioeth 9: 3-10; Janvier et al. (2012); Pediatrics 130: 293-298; Leighton et al. (2012); Public Health Genomics 15: 11-21]. These studies and a number of other medical and public health studies that have used Facebook as a context for recruiting research subjects are discussed. Approaches for Facebook-based subject recruitment are identified, including paid Facebook advertising, snowball sampling, targeted searching and posting. The use of these methods in medical genetics research has the potential to facilitate cost-effective research on both large, heterogeneous populations and small, hard-to-access sub-populations.

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to be independent of kidney function and diabetes status, leading to benefits across a wide range of GFRs. 10 The rationale for this study by Bergling et al. 2 emerges from the second study of the series where phlorizin, a nonselective SGLT inhibitor, reduced peritoneal glucose absorption in the same rat model. 11 The third study was conducted to distinguish if these effects were meditated by SGLT1 inhibition (considering the lack of effect with empagliflozin) or GLUT inhibition by the phlorizin metabolite, phloretin. Bergling et al., 2 therefore, repeated the experiments with phloretin and mizagliflozin, an SGLT1 inhibitor. Although mizagliflozin did not appear to have any effect on glucose transport, nonspecific GLUT inhibition with phloretin reduced peritoneal glucose absorption and improved median UF by .50%, presumably by prolonging the glucose osmotic gradient. These results are interesting, particularly considering novel GLUT inhibitors under development.With the existence of established and novel agents that inhibit glucose transport and the presence of conflicting results in preclinical studies, the time is ripe for human mechanistic and clinical trials to study the physiologic and clinical effects of glucose transport inhibitors in patients on PD. Considering the systemic effects of these agents and the ubiquitous nature of GLUTs, a key focus of these studies will be the safety and tolerability of glucose transport inhibitors in patients on PD. DISCLOSURES J.M. Bargman has been a speaker and consultant for Baxter Healthcare and DaVita Healthcare Partners and a consultant for GSK. J.M. Bargman also reports consultancy agreements with Akebia, Bayer, Novartis, and Otsuka; honoraria from Akebia, Amgen, Baxter Healthcare, DaVita Healthcare Partners, and Glaxo Smith Kline; an advisory or leadership role on the editorial boards of CJASN, JASN, and Peritoneal Dialysis International; and speakers bureaus for Glaxo Smith Kline. V.S. Sridhar is supported by a Banting and Best Diabetes Centre postdoctoral fellowship at the