Professor Li Weida of Tongji University and the team of academicians Gao Shaorong have made new breakthroughs in the field of diabetes research and treatment: for the first time, they revealed that zinc ion accumulation is the key pathogenic factor for the functional inactivation of pancreatic islet beta cells in diabetes patients, and confirmed that the transport protein ZnT8, which mediates zinc ion accumulation, can be used as the "gold target" for the prevention and treatment of diabetes. Based on this, the research team has developed a new treatment technology that combines treatment and prevention in a dual track approach. For patients with advanced diabetes who need to rely on insulin injection for a long time due to pancreatic islet failure, they have developed transplantable and stress resistant "human islet like organs" in vitro with the help of stem cell technology, which is expected to realize the hope of functional cure of "one-time transplantation, long-term effectiveness". There are 274 million people with pre diabetes in China. They have no medicine available at present and can only wait for the disease to progress. Nearly half of them will develop into diabetes. In response to this clinical gap, the research team is simultaneously advancing the development of the world's first small molecule inhibitor targeting ZnT8. This drug aims to simulate the natural protective state of ZnT8 protein function loss, provide protection for patients' fragile islet β cells in the early stage of diabetes, and delay or even prevent them from developing into diabetes. According to Li Weida, clinical experts from several top medical institutions in China have contacted and cooperated with them to jointly promote follow-up clinical transformation research and benefit diabetes patients worldwide as soon as possible. (New Society)