Scientists are conducting a great deal of research into type 2 diabetes. Much of the emphasis is on development of additional antidiabetic agents and medications that can treat risk factors such as obesity, cholesterol and high blood pressure and complications such as diabetic retinopathy, diabetic nephropathy and diabetic neuropathy.

The genetics of type 2 diabetes is another focus. In 2005, researchers in Iceland announced discovery of a gene variant called TCF7L2 that could predispose close to 38 percent of Northern European populations and many black Americans to type 2 diabetes. Researchers in Boston used new DNA technology to implicate an ARNT gene (aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator) in the development of type 2 diabetes. Further research on such findings could lead to treatments.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) announced in early 2006 that a small-scale study suggested that a three-week high-fiber, low-fat diet combined with daily exercise could reverse type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome. However, scientists and physicians generally consider diabetes a lifelong condition that can be managed rather than cured. Rigorous follow-up would be required before this view is changed.