Progress in molecular biology has advanced our medical knowledge. The identification of genetic abnormalities has been transformed into the new approach of "inverse genetic s" which is based on close collaboration between clinicians, geneticians, molecular biologists and physiologists. In monogenic affections of unknown mechanism, the scientific method of determining the culprit gene is based essentially on precise phenotypic identification of all members of a large family and on DNA studies. The following steps consist in localising the gene with polymorphic genetic probes and then demonstrate the causal mutations and, finally, reexpress the normal and abnormal genes to study their function and thereby confirm the mutation. This approach has recently been applied to cardiac arrhythmias. Genes responsible for atrioventricular conduction defects, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndromes associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia have been localised in the human genome showing that these syndromes are often very variable. The greatest progress has been achieved in the congenital long QT syndrome. Four genes have been localised on chromosomes 3, 1, 7 and 11, and three have already been identified which has allowed study of their function and genotype-phenotype analysis.