Research Receives Huge Boost

December 3rd, 2009

More than 100,000 Australians have type 1 diabetes, and most would have been diagnosed as children.

A worrying trend is that this disease is becoming more common.

In May, a leap forward in type 1 diabetes research was made when my international colleagues and I announced the discovery of more than 40 genes, including 25 totally new genes, as risk factors for the disease.

This research was part of the Type 1 Diabetes Genetics Consortium, and is the largest family-based genetics study in the world to date.

This analysed donated blood samples from more than 20,000 people across the globe, 1000 of those from Australian families.

What this means for people with type 1 diabetes, their children and others in future is that we're getting closer to pinpointing what might trigger the disease, and therefore developing preventive treatments.

If we can find clues as to how the disease is "switched on", we are also shown a possible way to switch it off to prevent it from developing in the first place - which is our laboratory's main aim at the WA Institute for Medical Research.

Our international work has just been given a huge boost, being awarded US$6.6 million by the National Institutes of Health in the US to further our investigations and work alongside scientists in the USA and Europe, which will no doubt lead to increased knowledge of the genetics of type 1 diabetes.

With WA at the forefront of this global research initiative, we can be first in line to benefit from breakthroughs.

If you or your family are affected by type 1 diabetes and would like to find out more about volunteering for genetic research, we would love you to contact us about being part of the Australian Childhood Diabetes DNA Repository. It aims to assist researchers to identify genes that increase the risk of diabetes by recruiting affected children and their biological parents. For more information, please visit www.acddr.org.au or call Sarah on 9224 0340.