This brief commentary is based on the debate that took part in May 2010 in New York. We describe the initial difficulties experienced in early genome-wide association studies of blood pressure and hypertension, as well as strategic developments, including large meta-analyses and sampling from the extremes of blood pressure distribution. The reasons for negative attitudes toward the genome-wide association studies include their nonhypothesis-driven character and the need for very large sample sizes. Nevertheless, we describe published successes, which include 13 single nucleotide polymorphisms/loci associated with blood pressure and hypertension at P < 5 x 10⁻⁸, which fulfill the criteria of genome-wide significance. We conclude by suggesting a way forward, which will include resequencing to aid fine mapping and the identification of causal variants, even bigger meta-analyses, and, most importantly, appropriate functional studies leading to clinically useful applications.