Researchers from Harvard University, using a type of gene therapy, have successfully caused pancreatic exocrine cells to change to insulin produced Beta cells in mice. This means that mice with Type 1 diabetes were able to produce insulin on their own, just like mice without diabetes. The possibilities for eventual human uses are very exciting. If the scientists can get this procedure to work in humans then people with Type 1 would no longer need to take insulin. This therapy would not only cure their diabetes it would also reverse the disease. It will be years before this becomes ready for humans, but the possibility of an end to diabetes is now one step closer.
Here is a link to the full article in the on-line journal Nature. You can also read about the study in the Fall 2008 issue of JDRF's Countdown magazine.
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