Assessment of the potential role of natural selection in type 2 diabetes and related traits across human continental ancestry groups: comparison of phenotypic with genotypic divergence.

These analyses suggest that while type 2 diabetes and related traits differ significantly among continental ancestry groups, the differences are consistent with neutral expectations based on heritability and genetic distances. While these analyses do not exclude a modest role for natural selection, they do not support the hypothesis that differential natural selection is necessary to explain the phenotypic differences among these ancestry groups. Graphical abstract.