Almost 26 million children and adults in the US have diabetes, while 79 million of us have pre-diabetes. Now, researchers have identified rare mutations in a gene that they say could prevent type 2 diabetes - the most common form of the disease - even in people who have risk factors for the condition.
The international research team, led by investigators from the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, and the Massachusetts General Hospital, recently published the findings in the journal Nature Genetics.
The researchers say that if a drug can be created that mimics the protective effects of these mutations, this could open the doors to the prevention of type 2 diabetes.
To reach their findings, the investigators analyzed the genes of 150,000 individuals over five ancestry groups using next-generation sequencing.
All participants had severe risk factors for diabetes, including advanced age and obesity. However, none of the subjects had developed the condition and had normal blood sugar levels.
Mutations in SLC30A8 gene reduce type 2 diabetes risk by 65%
An initial analysis of individuals from Sweden and Finland revealed a mutation in a gene called SLC30A8 that stopped it from functioning - a discovery the research team found surprising. Previous studies in mice had shown that mutations in this gene increased the risk of type 2 diabetes.
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