The gene called PTPN1 (Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase N1), is found on the human chromosome 20, which has long been targeted by investigators as a likely site for diabetes genes, according to a report in the November issue of Diabetes, a journal of American Diabetes Association.
Donald W Bowden, the principal investigator, and his colleagues have described the gene in two articles, saying the protein that
So if a person is making a lot of this protein, the body's ability to respond to insulin would be blunted, resulting in diabetes, according to the report.
The researchers found several variants of the PTPN1 gene. One common form is associated with diabetes, and there's another that appears to be protective, according to the scientists who estimate that the risky gene contributes to about 20 per cent of diabetes in Caucasian Americans.
"The effect doesn't seem to be there in African-Americans," the report said.