Gene Discovered Linked With Type II Diabetes

Millenium Pharmaceuticals, in collaboration with the Whitehead Institute, USA and Lund University in Sweden, among others, has reported on the mapping of a gene that may be associated with the development of a form of adult-onset diabetes which is linked to the low secretion of insulin. This was reported in the September issue of Nature Genetics.

The identification of the chromosomal location of the gene, referred to as NIDDM2, is thought to be an important advance towards the understanding of the etiology of human diabetes, say the researchers, and may contribute to the development of new therapeutic interventions for the disease.

Over 4,000 individuals from the Botnia region in western Finland, took part in a scanning project. To be included in the study, subjects must have had a minimum of three affected family members, with one having developed the disease before the age of 60, and one before the age of 65. The study ultimately involved 26 families and 217 individuals of whom120 were diabetic patients.