Science / Medicine : Diabetes Genes Studied in Mice

British and American researchers have located two genes in mice that appear to promote development of diabetes, a finding that may help the search for such genes in people. Scientists have already identified some genes in people that can raise the risk of developing the disease, but research suggests that additional genes, not yet found, also play a role.

The work, reported last week in Nature, pertains to Type 1 diabetes, the most severe form, which affects about 1 million Americans. They must take insulin injections because their bodies fail to produce enough of the substance, following a misguided attack on insulin-producing cells of the pancreas by the disease-fighting immune system.

If new human susceptibility genes can be identified, according to Graeme Bell of the University of Chicago, genetic testing might detect people at risk for developing Type 1 diabetes, and early treatment might reduce the severity of their disease, he said.

The mouse genes were not identified, but their approximate locations were found on two chromosomes. Results suggest that in humans, the counterpart to one of the mouse genes may lie on chromosome 1 or 4, and the counterpart to the other on chromosome 17.