Although the ‘unmethylated INS DNA’ assay has yet to be fully validated [15], these data support the notion that a blood test that measures beta cell death in the setting of type-1-diabetes-associated autoimmunity can potentially be used in the future as the first surrogate marker of its kind, able to monitor beta cell ‘health-status’ during prevention and intervention studies. Here, INS is linked to type 1 diabetes mellitus.