[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6158\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EHow diabetes research changed the way we view exercise\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project \u2013 which was backed by a European Research Council (ERC) grant in 2008 \u2013 is a great example of the importance of frontier research according to its leader Professor Juleen Zierath, a physiologist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. \u2018I could hardly have imagined that our research would take us in this direction,\u2019 she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESince 1986, Prof. Zierath has been investigating how lifestyle-related diabetes, known as Type 2 diabetes, develops. Her group had discovered that the DNA of people with the disease is chemically \u2018marked\u2019 with more methyl groups \u2013 a hydrocarbon \u2013 than normal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s important because these methyl groups inhibit the ability of the muscles to metabolise sugar and fat. With fewer methyl groups in place, the muscle finds exercise easier.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer team had also discovered that these markers disappear when obese people \u2013 who are at greater risk of Type 2 diabetes \u2013 undergo weight-loss surgery. Using her ERC grant, Prof. Zierath then went on to prove that exercise, which is known to reduce susceptibility to Type 2 diabetes, had the same effect on the number of methyl group markers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the study did not end there. The research team artificially contracted rodent muscle cells in culture in the lab by stimulating them with caffeine, and found that the same loss of methyl groups occurred. This suggested that artificial stimulation could give people the benefits of exercise, even if a physical disability \u2013 for example, being confined to a wheelchair \u2013 prevented them from exercising normally.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESuch therapy is probably a long way off, but the prospect has at least been raised \u2013 and that would not have come about without the ERC grant, said Prof. Zierath. \u2018Five years of sustained funding at a high level allowed us a lot of breathing room, a lot of freedom, and an opportunity to relax and test different ideas,\u2019 she added.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-sctb0ml2k0cqfs38norq9twispgrnuqouync0hpxjvm\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-ScTb0ML2K0CqFS38nORQ9tWISpGRnuQouyNC0hPxjvM\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]