It does so by biting off bits of the glucagon-like peptide-1 or GLP-1 hormone.

FORBES: Novartis Results Heat Up Diabetes Drug Race

They picked a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that is made by intestinal cells in response to sugar and fat.

ECONOMIST: Hormones influence how sensitive taste buds are to sugar

However, new research suggests another answer may be a hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1).

BBC: Diabetes hormone treatment hope

In the late 1970s Harvard Medical School researcher Joel Habener serendipitously discovered a hormone in monkfish called GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide).

FORBES: Fat City

An even more unusual approach is being explored by Alan Fogelman and his team, who have genetically engineered a tomato to produce a small peptide, 6F, that mimics the action of apo A-1.

FORBES: Early Look: New Methods To Enhance Cholesterol Efflux