Glowing Mice To Help Understand Type 2 Diabetes

What does a glowing “light bulb” and mice have to do with one another?  No this isn’t a joke.  The answer… type 2 diabetes.

With over 20 million diabetics and over 50 million “pre-diabetics” the race is certainly on to find new drugs, treatments and ultimately a cure.  Researchers have now used a “light bulb” type activator to help us see exactly what occurs during and after the process of eating and the physiology that accompanies it. 

Using a sensitive camera, the light–a direct measure of CREB/TORC2 activity–could be detected and measured from outside of the live mice. Using biochemical and genetic techniques to change the levels of various molecules in the pathway, including insulin and TORC2, the researchers measured the effect of these changes on the amount of light emitted from the liver.

The mice turned in to regular ol’ Christmas ornaments.  It is very cool and beneficial to be able to actually view in real time the effect of certain proteins, enzymes, glucose and ultimately insulin production. 

This type of research brings hope for being able to disect very particular process’ that occur within our bodies and ultimately produce new and better diabetic medications.

via Science Daily