Giovanni Maki [creativecommons license] via Wikimedia CommonsThe incidence of type 2 diabetes is increasing rapidly in the US, making it a major public health concern and the focus of much biomedical research. Insulin resistance, a hallmark of type 2 diabetes, is linked to obesity and poor diet. Until now, researchers have relied primarily on rodent models for investigations of the mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes. But a recent report from biologists at Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX) led by Johannes S. Bauer may enable diabetes research to take flight: it describes the development of diet-induced insulin resistance in adult fruit flies.
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