Michael J. Ackerman, M.D., Ph.D., Windland Smith Rice Cardiovascular Genomics Research Professor and professor of medicine, pediatrics and pharmacology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, discusses his article appearing in the October 2011 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings on a relationship between victims of an otherwise-unexplained drowning and a collection of genetic heart rhythm disorders known as the cardiac channelopathies. These findings have the potential not only to establish a genetic cause for the tragic drowning but also to significantly affect the health outcomes for the surviving family members.