Overexpression or activation of SIRT1, by several activators, has been shown to effectively alleviate metabolic and cardiovascular complications in animal models of metabolic diseases, including obesity and type 2 diabetes (Schug and Li, 2011; Weisbrod et al., 2013; Fry et al., 2016). The gene discussed is SIRT1; the disease is type 2 diabetes mellitus.