Posted on November 5, 2009 in Diabetes Information
According to a latest research (dated November 2, 2009) in the field of diabetes, genetically altered Fruit flies have been found to possess symptoms similar to diabetes in humans. These fruit flies can now be used to understand the origin of the disorder diabetes and gain valuable insights in the process of its treatment. The research was carried out at the University of Maryland.
What the research involved: Genes are the instructions which carry out the functions in our body. They are chemical structures made up of molecules. When the position of the molecules are altered, the whole existance of a being gets changed. This process is technically called mutation. The new being with changed genetic instructions, is called a mutant. Dr.Leslie Pick, associate professor, department of entomology, University of Maryland and her colleagues changed the genes of fruit flies. They tried and succeded to create a mutant of fruit flies which could show the loss of insulin production. They wanted to understand the origin of the Type 1 diabetes in humans by carrying experiments on these mutant fruit flies.
Knowledge Gained from Research:
- The Researchers found that the mutant fruit flies have elevated sugar levels like Type 2 diabetic patients.
- These flies are lazy and survive on the energy they get by burning the fat cells in their body. The fat cells do not get stored in their body for future use.
- This is because even though these flies have nutrients in their body, they are not recognised and utilized for the well being.
- As a result, the body is compelled to burn the fat cells and provide energy for daily life activities. This is what exactly happens in a diabetic patient’s body too.
What this research means for a diabetic patient: The researchers say that they could delete five specific genes associated with insulin in the fruit flies and make them diabetic. Similarly there should be some genes which when targetted correctly, can provide answer to the disorder diabetes itself. Moreover, the genes of these mutant flies have been found very closely similar to the human genes. This means that any breakthrough achieved with these fruit flies will apply directly on humans too. There will be no need to carryout any confirmation experiments on humans separately.
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