Researchers said that treatment for kidney disease could be revolutionized as 20 genes that can help explain kidney diseases have been identified.

Kidney functions such as filtering waste from the blood is controlled by the genes identified by the international team of researchers.

According to experts, the Nature Genetics study was ‘a great breakthrough’.

Kidneys progressively lose their function in chronic kidney disease.

Initially the symptoms of CKD like swollen ankles and hands or blood in the urine go unnoticed until the condition is advanced.

Damage caused by other long-term conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, are the most common cause of CKD.

Which genes were involved has not been known but it was known that there was a genetic component to the disease.

Genes of nearly 70,000 people across Europe were looked for study by an international team of scientists, including researchers at the University of Edinburgh.

About 13 new genes that influence renal function and seven others that affect the production and secretion of creatinine were found after the study.

Dr Jim Wilson, a geneticist at the University of Edinburgh who worked on the study, said, "This work could revolutionise the treatment of kidney disease in the future - but this will take some time.”