An international team of scientists from the UK and Belgium has identified a new type of diabetes in newborns for the first time, linked to a mutation in the TMEM167A gene.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, revealed that this genetic change disrupts the function of the pancreatic β-cells responsible for insulin production and leads to their death.

Researchers from the University of Exeter and the Free University of Brussels used CRISPR technology and stem cells to precisely track how the gene affects cellular processes. It turned out that TMEM167A is important not only for insulin production but also for the normal functioning of neurons — the affected children also showed neurological disorders, including epilepsy and microcephaly.

The authors emphasize that the discovery of this rare form of diabetes will help deepen our understanding of insulin secretion mechanisms and could, in the future, lead to the development of new treatments for neonatal and other forms of diabetes, which currently affect nearly 600 million people worldwide.