Diabetes Breakthrough? Researchers discover gene that is resistant to insulin

There is good news for the millions of people suffering from type 2 diabetes around the world. An international research team has discovered a new gene that could lead to better treatment of the disease, along with a better understanding of how diabetes develops, according to a news release from McGill University in Montreal. The new gene is different from other genes associated with diabetes. Called Insulin Receptor Substrate 1 (IRS1), it doesn’t affect how insulin is created in the pancreas, but rather, how the body responds to insulin already in the bloodstream, the researchers from Canada, France, the UK and Denmark said. Their fundings will be published in the journal Nature Genetics Sept. 6.