Whether you indulge in a chocolate bar or run a marathon, a tug-of-war between the hormones insulin and glucagon plays a key role in managing your blood sugar levels. Insulin lowers blood sugar, while glucagon raises it. Together, they keep your blood sugar around ~1g per litre. These hormones are produced by the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. In diabetes, a cascade of defects that disrupts the release of insulin and glucagon disrupts this delicate balance. According to our most recent findings, type-2 diabetes (the most common form) results from a defect that physically prevents insulin from reaching the blood, and treatments focus on increasing its release or action. However, treating diabetes can be challenging. For example, insulin injections in type-1 diabetes (that affects children) often (twice every week, on average) cause life-threateningly low blood sugar levels. This happens because somatostatin, another hormone, prevents glucagon from being released. Our studies aim to create new treatments, sometimes by repurposing existing medicines. This approach makes it easier and faster to translate our findings into improved clinical practice.