New research has identified the complete set of genes involved in the regulation of glucose levels in Drosophila melanogaster, raising questions about what these findings could mean for diabetes research in humans. The researchers demonstrated that glucose levels in the haemolymph of D. melanogaster larvae respond to physiological cues in a similar way to blood glucose levels in mammals. Various RNA interference screens were performed in D. melanogaster to reveal the 161 genes involved in glucose homeostasis. Of these genes, 141 are known to have mammalian homologues; 56 of these genes are novel candidates for involvement in hyperglycaemia. One of these candidates (Ck1alpha) was investigated in mice. Animals with either homozygous or heterozygous mutations in this gene developed diabetes mellitus, which suggests that findings in D. melanogaster could be relevant to mammalian physiology.