Interviews of the CIG PIs: B.Thorens

Series of interviews were written to present each PI of the CIG.
Most of them are already available on the new CIG Report’s website, and every week we will be displaying one of them in the newsletter.

“Ain’t it sweet?”

Glucose sensing & Homeostasis

Until the Victorian era it was common practice among doctors to taste their patients’ urine: a sweet taste was an indication of diabetes mellitus, a chronic, lifelong condition associated with an impaired ability to produce or respond to insulin,  resulting in abnormal carbohydrate metabolism and elevated blood glucose levels. At the beginning of the 21st century, Prof. Bernard Thorens uses somewhat different methods for diagnosing ”honey disease”. Many years, ago, he has directed his research towards unraveling the mechanisms that control glucose sensing, in search of new therapeutic options for the treatment of diabetes.

“People think that a sugar basin has no physiognomy, no soul. But it changes every day.”

Paul Cezanne (1839 – 1906)