If scientists could prevent that immune system response, they could head off diabetes. The pills can cause the immune system to tolerate the insulin's presence and prevent the disease. Baker said the research project began about six months ago and will involve thousands of patients across the country over the next five years. Earlier research, dating back 20 years, focused on suppressing the immune system with the same drugs used by transplant patients to prevent organ rejection. That approach was abandoned because permanently suppressing the body's defenses could lead to other serious health problems.
Genetic work offers another avenue of investigation.
Much of the research thus far has concentrated on finding a susceptibility gene on Chromosome 6 - a gene that leaves people more likely to get diabetes. If someone inherits a copy of the gene from each parent, the risk for the disease is high, Hoover said. A susceptibility gene from one parent and a neutral gene from the other makes the risk low. The pairing of a protective gene and a susceptibility gene makes the chance of getting diabetes nil. Richard Spielman, professor of genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine , said some evidence suggests that genes for diabetes susceptibility also exist on other chromosomes, including Chromosome 11.