The exact cause of type 1 diabetes is still unknown, but international researchers have found a link between the blood sugar disorder and a network of immune system genes.
Using a genome-wide association study, the researchers found that a certain group of genes that react in response to viral infections were present in both rats and humans, and that those same genes were also associated with a susceptibility to type 1 diabetes.
"Diseases arise as a result of many genetic and environmental factors through gene networks that cause tissue damage," explained study senior author Dr. Stuart Cook, the group head of molecular and cellular cardiology at the Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre, and a professor of clinical and molecular cardiology at Imperial College in London.
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