Type II diabetes are more common in people with obesity and could be due to antibody to insulin receptor in some. It is unclear whether increased consumption of different meat by people in Asia is related to the increased incidence of type II diabetes in that region.

A study reported in Nature today showed that malfunction of circadian or molecular clock could cause diabetes. Luciferase transgene, directed by the promoter of CLOCK gene, showed that a so call beta-cell clock exists in pancreatic tissue. Mice with mutated CLOCK gene lost insulin response to light and had high levels of glucose. This study showed that the circadian clock, which drives cycles of energy storage and utilization associated with sun rising and setting, regulates blood levels of insulin, therefore, glucose, as well.