Until recently, scientists believed that the primary cilium—an antenna-like structure found on the surface of most human cells—was largely vestigial and had little bearing on the day-to-day lives of human beings. But more recently, a relatively small number of people have been found to have rare genetic disorders affecting the cilium, characterized by a number of health problems, including common conditions like diabetes, kidney failure, and liver fibrosis. Now, an analysis of genes involved in the function of the cilium found that the same genes causing its rare diseases might also be behind the appearance of diabetes, kidney failure and liver fibrosis among the general public, too—pointing to a potential way to treat or even cure them. These findings were published today in the American Journal of Human Genetics.