The gene CMAH is needed to induce human-like diabetes in mice. Image courtesy of AlicePopkorn.

New research suggests that rodents and other mammals might not be ideal for studying type 2 diabetes because of a gene that was deleted from the human genome millions of years ago.



These findings suggest that while normal mice can exhibit some of the symptoms of type 2 diabetes in the lab, they do not mimic the full effects of metabolic syndrome experienced by humans exposed to a similar diet.

Future diabetes research may be better served using mice with a genetic background more similar to humans and missing the CMAH gene.

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Darya Pino


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