Wntdow on diabetes

deCode genetics Inc. is working to make a diagnostic test from its latest genetic finding, a variant of the gene for transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2), which confers increased risk of Type II diabetes. The company also will explore therapeutic targets for diabetes based on the gene, which is located in the Wnt pathway, which also plays a role in tissue regeneration, stem cell renewal and cancer growth.

Data from combined Icelandic, U.S. and Danish populations in a total of about 3,200 people with and without Type II diabetes showed that about 45% of people carried the risk-conferring TCF7L2 variant, according to a Nature Geneticspaper published last week by researchers from DCGN (Reykjavik, Iceland). The 38% who had one copy of the TCF7L2 variant had a 45% greater risk of getting Type II diabetes, while the 7% who had two copies were 141% more likely to develop the disease...