“…Suboptimal lipid levels contribute to the atherosclerotic process, with clinical trials and observational studies demonstrating a strong relation between blood lipid concentrations and CVD (Hokanson and Austin, 1996; LaRosa et al, 1999; Di Angelantonio et al, 2009; Huxley et al, 2011). The heritabilities of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglyceride concentrations have long been established (Friedlander et al, 1997; Malhotra and Wolford, 2005; Luo et al, 2010; Zhang et al, 2010). More recently, genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have made important strides in identifying single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that contribute to the inter-individual variability in these complex phenotypes (Saxena et al, 2007; Kathiresan et al, 2008; Kooner et al, 2008; Wallace et al, 2008; Willer et al, 2008; Aulchenko et al, 2009; Kathiresan et al, 2009; Teslovich et al, 2010; Waterworth et al, 2010; Kim et al, 2011; Tan et al, 2012).…”