Considered to be a breakthrough to finding a cure for Type 1 Diabetes, Australian researchers have found stem cells in the pancreas that can be converted into insulin-producing cells.
Professor Len Harrison, one of the researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s division of Molecular Medicine, describes the effects and caveats of this findings, in saying, “In the long-term, we hope that people with type 1 diabetes might be able to regenerate their own insulin-producing cells. This would mean that they could make their own insulin and regain control of their blood glucose levels, curing their diabetes.”
It must be said that there have been studies which have been successful at creating insulin-producing cells in the pancreas with stem-like features. Only this time, his colleague, Dr. Ilia Banakh has been able to locate the cell of origin of these insulin-producing cells.
But that’s not all – she has also found that these cells grow in number or increase their production of insulin as a direct response to pancreas injury.
As a part of their research, they first isolated the insulin producing stem cells from the pancreas and tested their insulin-producing ability with cells in a test tube. Finally, they also tested these stem cells on diabetic mice.
What this study reveals is that everyone of us have the ability to regenerate insulin-producing cells, and could be a breakthrough in finally finding a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.
However, there remains one hurdle, as Harrison puts it: “Of course, this strategy will only work if we can devise ways to overcome the immune attack on the insulin-producing cells, that causes diabetes in the first place.”