Islet autoantibodies against either glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies (GADA), islet antigen‐2 autoantibodies (IA‐2A), insulin autoantibodies (IAA) or zinc transporter‐8 autoantibodies (ZnT8A), alone or in combination, are strong biomarkers of ongoing islet autoimmunity and define the first step towards clinical onset of type 1 diabetes. The gene discussed is INS; the disease is type 1 diabetes mellitus.