Cookies on this website
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Continue' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Study decodes gene function that protects against type 2 diabetes

General Research

An international research collaboration led by researchers from the Universities of Helsinki and Oxford has identified the biological mechanism through which a genetic variant protects against type 2 diabetes.

Study decodes gene function that protects against type 2 diabetes

The study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, finds that changes in a gene which makes zinc transporter proteins reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by enhancing insulin secretion from the pancreas.

Type 2 diabetes affects almost 400 million people across the world. It is caused by a combination of lifestyle as well as genetic factors which together result in high blood sugar levels.

One such genetic factor is a variation in a gene called SLC30A8, which encodes a protein which carries zinc. This protein is important, because zinc is essential for ensuring that insulin, (the only hormone that can reduce blood sugar levels) has the right shape in the beta-cells of the pancreas.

Read more (Radcliffe Department of Medicine website)

Similar stories

Cancer Research UK to invest £11 million into cancer science in Oxford

A £11 million Cancer Research UK investment has been awarded to the University of Oxford and Oxford-based NHS to catalyse the translation of its world-leading cancer research for patient benefit.

Review highlights risk factors associated with violence in schizophrenia

Researchers at Oxford University’s Department of Psychiatry have found that people with schizophrenia and related disorders are at higher-than-average risk of perpetrating violence, but that the overall risk remains low (less than 1 in 20 in women, and less than 1 in 4 for men over a 35-year period for violent arrests and crimes).

An estimated 1.2 million people died in 2019 from antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections

First comprehensive analysis of global impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) estimates resistance itself caused 1.27 million deaths in 2019 - more deaths than HIV/AIDS or malaria - and that antimicrobial-resistant infections played a role in 4.95 million deaths.

Attention and memory deficits persist for months after recovery from mild Covid

Researchers from Oxford’s Department of Experimental Psychology and Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences have shown that people who have had Covid but don’t complain of long Covid symptoms in daily life nevertheless can show degraded attention and memory for up to 6-9 months.

Plaster cast or metal pins to treat a broken wrist? The results are in.

An Oxford study published in The BMJ has found the use of metal K-wires (commonly known as ‘pins’) to hold broken wrist bones in place while they heal are no better than a traditional moulded plaster cast.

New book expands the horizons of brain research

A pioneering book from Professor Zoltán Molnár and Yale Professors Tamas Horvath and Joy Hirsch to be released on 1 February 2022 addresses the fundamental relationship between the body, brain and behaviour.