The Chemistry of Diabetes

In this new edition, the connection between diabetes and cancer is made through the effect of tautomerism and the methylation of the cytosine and uracil bases, which explains why the proinsulin protein is not formed in the Langerhans islets of the pancreas, so that when no insulin is formed, diabetes mellitus is produced. Methylation is a consequence of the consumption of proteins from animal origin, which brings with it an excess of the amino acid methionine, and on losing the methyl group, methionine is converted into homocysteine, while the detached methyl group converts the cytosine and uracil bases into thymine.