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Cure for Type 1 Diabetes Found?
Stem-cell research breakthrough seems hopeful
By Tanya J. Tyler, Interim Editor
Researchers at Harvard University
say they have made a “giant leap
forward” in finding a cure for Type 1
diabetes following a breakthrough in
stem-cell related research.
The scientists created insulinproducing cells that are almost identical to those found in the human body
by using embryonic stem cells. They
recreated human beta cells in such
quantity that cell transplantation is
now possible. Human transplant trials using the cells may begin within a
few years.
The breakthrough may mean
people with diabetes would no longer
have to deal with daily insulin injections and health complications linked
to Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes
accounts for around 10 percent of all
cases of adults with the incurable disease. It is the most common type of
diabetes found in childhood.
Doug Melton, Xander University
Professor at Harvard University,
led the work. “While there have
been previous reports of other labs
deriving beta cell types from stem
cells, no other group has produced
mature beta cells as suitable for use in
patients,” he said. “The biggest hurdle
has been to get to glucose-sensing,
insulin-secreting beta cells, and that’s
what our group has done.”
Melton has been searching for
a cure for diabetes for more than
23 years, when his infant son was
diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. His
daughter has it, too.
“We are now just one preclinical step away from the finish line,”
Melton said,
A report on the new work is being
published by the
journal Cell.
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