Fat tissue might have a lot to do with developing type 2 diabetes. First, it is well recognized that excess fatty tissues, especially the kind in your belly, increases risk for the development of T2DM, as well as affecting other ways the body uses insulin. Second, fatty tissue is a classic target tissue for the action of insulin, which regulates the use of sugar by fat cells and also regulates the release of fatty acids from fatty tissues. Third, studies in mice that lack fatty tissue, indicate that severe insulin resistance (lack of a normal response to insulin) can result. Other types of studies have shown that fatty tissues make proteins that affect your body's insulin and your appetite in good and bad ways. Yet despite this importance, we still lack techniques for the study of fatty tissue metabolism in humans.