Gene (CEL VNTR) Increases Diabetes Risk, Scientists Find

From The New York Times:

Scientists have discovered a variant gene that leads to a sizable extra risk of Type 2 diabetes and is carried by more than a third of the American population.

The finding is being reported today in the journal Nature Genetics by researchers at Decode Genetics, a company in Reykjavik, Iceland, that specializes in finding the genetic roots of human diseases. Decode Genetics first found the variant gene - one of many different versions that exist in the human population - in Icelanders and has now confirmed the finding in a Danish and an American population.

An immediate practical consequence of the discovery, said Decode's chief executive, Kari Stefansson, would be to develop a diagnostic test to identify people who carry the variant gene. If people knew of their extra risk, they would have an incentive to stay thin and exercise, he said.

The paper is "Mutations in the CEL VNTR cause a syndrome of diabetes and pancreatic exocrine dysfunction."

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