Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disorder, known to have a strong genetic component. Concordance between monozygotic twins is approximately 30-40%, which is 8-20 times higher than that of dizygotic twins. In the last decade, genome-wide approaches to understanding SLE have yielded many candidate genes, which are important to understanding the pathophysiology of the disease and potential targets for pharmaceutical intervention. In this paper, we focus on the role of cytokines and examine how genome-wide association studies, copy number variation studies, and next-generation sequencing are being employed to understand the etiology of SLE. Prominent genes identified by these approaches include BLK, FCγR3B, and TREX1. Our goal is to present a brief overview of genomic approaches to SLE and to introduce some of the key discussion points pertinent to the field.