
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 16, 1991                   TAG: 9102160030
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

RESEARCHERS CLOSING IN ON DIABETES GENE

Researchers studying a form of diabetes in one large family have located the general area of a defective gene that causes the illness, according to a report published Friday.

Although the gene itself has not been isolated, "this is a crucial first step toward finding the gene responsible for the disorder," said Graeme Bell, a University of Chicago scientist who led the study.

Knowing the gene or defect that causes the disease would help scientists develop improved treatments, prevent or find a cure for diabetes.

The study involved five generations of one family in which one form of non-insulin-dependent diabetes has been passed along.

Non-insulin-dependent diabetes affects 12 million Americans, but the form that was studied, called mature-onset diabetes of the young, or MODY, is much less common. The more common form usually develops after age 40, whereas the other form develops before age 25.

The study by researchers at the universities of Chicago, Michigan and Pennsylvania was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

by CNB