INS and type 1 diabetes mellitus: These include preferential transmission of HLA susceptible genes from the father to the offspring [14, 15]; genomic imprinting resulting in diabetes-susceptible gene inactivation in the offspring of affected mothers but not in those of affected fathers [16]; a tolerogenic environment in insulin-treated mothers during pregnancy [1, 17]; and the selective loss of fetuses of affected mothers carrying susceptibility to type 1 diabetes by spontaneous abortion [1].