Science News Seeks Opinion of Dr. Dana Graves

Dr. Dana T. Graves, professor of periodontology and oral biology, discusses recent discoveries regarding the influence of bone cells on energy metabolism leading to type 2 diabetes in this week’s issue of Science News.

"The fact that bone cells regulate energy metabolism, and that they do it through osteocalcin, is a major finding," he says in the article. "This could also have important ramifications for cardiovascular disease because of the effect on metabolic syndrome."

Graves’ recent research has focused on how diabetes interferes with bone formation and enhances periodontal disease. Osteocalcin, a protein found in bone and dentin, is now thought to play a hormonal role in increasing insulin production.