New diabetes gene link

Science’s struggle with diabetes has one major goal: to identify a genetic pathway to facilitate treatment or a cure . Research is progressing at different rates around the globe, and despite stem-cell advancements and other genetic breakthroughs, no widespread solution is available. News today is that researchers in the UK have identified a variation in a gene often associated with type 1 diabetes.
The new genetic discovery opens doors to the root causes of type 2 diabetes. According to researchers, it could be an abnormal response to viral infection that first causes the immune system to attack and destroy insulin-producing cells. The affected gene apparently encodes an enzyme known as IF1H1 (Interferon-induced helicase.)
The results of the study are published in the respected research journal Nature Genetics, and were carried out by a team of experts at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research.
The discovery came following genome-wide searches for different genetic variants that could be linked to type 1 diabetes. The researchers studied 10,000 individuals and analysed almost 1800 families. Further studies should be regarded as essential. Functional changes to the gene could in theory influence the development of type 1 diabetes, with massive global implications