Researchers Hope Stem Cells Lead the Way to Diabetes Cure
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shironosov/iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A new study conducted at Harvard University may be a step towards curing type-1 diabetes using human stem cells, researchers say.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that 13,000 young people are diagnosed with type-1 diabetes annually. Researchers say they took human embryonic stem cells grown in a dish and turned them into cells incredibly similar to the natural insulin-producing cells in human bodies. Those cells, once grown, were then transplanted into mice, according to the study, which was published in the journal Cell.
Once transplanted, researchers say they functioned in much the same way that the same cells would when transplanted from human cadavers — a previously known treatment that is potentially curative.
While the study is far from being used in humans, it could lay the groundwork for future treatment of diabetes using human stem cells grown outside the body.
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