For more than half a century, scientists at UCSF have been at the center of major developments in diabetes treatment and care. Here's just a few of our very own diabetes breakthroughs:

• In the early 60’s UCSF was the first to link obesity to Type II diabetes. This fundamental discovery resulted in revolutionary changes in diabetes treatment and prevention
• The gene that produces insulin was first cloned by UCSF researchers in 1979. The discovery of this gene was the first step towards the unlimited supply of human insulin available today
• In the 1980’s UCSF coordinated the first multi-center clinical trial of human insulin
• UCSF diabetes researchers first demonstrated that elevated blood sugar was enough to cause abnormal structural changes in cells. This discovery is the cornerstone of today’s intensive glucose control strategies
• Glucagon was shown to be the prominent hormone to counter-regulate, and prevent, hypoglycemia and hypoglycemic unawareness by UCSF diabetes researchers
• Our scientists published the first description of a genetic marker “IDDM2” for Type I diabetes.  This marker is now believed to have a regulatory role in immune tolerance and immunological destruction of pancreatic beta-cells in Type I diabetes.
• We coordinated the first multi-center trial of human insulin and demonstrated that human insulin was effective, with no substantial hazards, enabling it to pass FDA approval for use in the United States
• We were among the first to report the sequence of the insulin receptor gene
• Our scientists have performed initial mapping and characterizing of the insulin promoter structure in the insulin gene.  This discovery is one of the fundamental pieces of information needed for the bioengineering of insulin-producing cells that could be used as a new source of islets for transplant.
• In 2002, Investigators in the JDRF Islet Transplant Center at UCSF and U. Minnesota, part of the Diabetes Center, were the first to demonstrate a reliable means of completing successful islet transplants with only a single transplant.
• In 2002, Diabetes Center scientists, with collaborators at COlumbia University demonstrated the first short-term treatment capable of stopping beta cell destruction in newly diagnosed diabetes patients.