For more than 30 years, scientists have been trying to unravel the mystery of how a key biological molecule self assembles into a rogue protein-like substance known as amyloid, which is thought to play a role in the development of type-2 diabetes - a disease that affects 300 million people worldwide. A team of scientists at the University of Leeds has, for the first time, been able to identify the step-by-step changes that take place in the molecule known as human islet amyloid polypeptide, or hIAPP, as it changes into amyloid.