A genetic difference found in 4% of Greenland’s Inuit people makes their bodies handle sugar differently, putting them at a much higher risk of getting diabetes. This change in their genes, called TBC1D4, makes it ten times more likely they’ll develop the disease. “When these people eat sugar, their body struggles to move it from their blood into their muscles,” says Professor Jørgen Wojtaszewski from the University of Copenhagen. The variant affects how insulin works in muscle tissue, making it harder for the body to control blood sugar levels. The numbers tell a striking story. In 1962, almost no one … Continue reading Greenland Inuit’s TBC1D4 Gene Variant Elevates Diabetes Risk 10-Fold