India’s war against diabetes could soon gain a powerful new weapon. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), in collaboration with Sun Life Global Solutions (SLGS), are spearheading a study to detect the disease long before conventional tests can.

The project zeroes in on Pancreastatin — a little-known biomarker that may act as an early red flag for type 2 diabetes. Alongside, scientists are mapping 10–12 genetic markers that could help predict an individual’s risk years before symptoms surface.

This effort comes at a critical moment. With nearly 77 million adults living with diabetes and another 25 million in the pre-diabetic stage, India carries one of the heaviest burdens of the disease worldwide. More than half of these cases remain undiagnosed until complications set in, leaving little scope for prevention.

“Traditional glucose and HbA1c tests detect diabetes only after it’s taken root. Our goal is to shift that timeline,” said researchers from IIT Madras’s Department of Biotechnology, which is leading the initiative with the BJM School of Biosciences.

If proven, the findings could ripple far beyond the lab. The development of affordable genetic risk tests and Pancreastatin-based kits could empower doctors at the primary healthcare level to flag vulnerable patients early. That, experts say, would not just save lives but also ease the economic drain of lifelong treatment.

The IIT Madras team has previously identified genetic and protein variations that make South Asians particularly vulnerable to diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. This new work builds directly on that foundation, pushing for real-world applications that could shape clinical guidelines and public health policy.

For millions at risk, this research represents more than scientific progress—it could mark the line between a future with diabetes and one without.