• Home
  • Science
  • Science News
  • Scientists Reportedly Reversed Type 1 Diabetes by Reprogramming Patient's Fat Cells into Insulin Producing Cells

Scientists Reportedly Reversed Type 1 Diabetes by Reprogramming Patient's Fat Cells into Insulin-Producing Cells

Researchers have reversed type 1 diabetes by converting a patient's fat cells into insulin-producing cells.

Scientists Reportedly Reversed Type 1 Diabetes by Reprogramming Patient's Fat Cells into Insulin-Producing Cells

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Ash Hayes

Scientists in China reprogrammed a woman's fat cells to reverse her type 1 diabetes

Highlights
  • Scientists reprogramme fat cells into insulin-producing cells
  • New insulin-producing cells reverse type 1 diabetes for one year
  • Patient no longer needs insulin injections after cell transplant
Advertisement

For the first time, a team of researchers in China has reversed type 1 diabetes by converting a woman's own fat cells into insulin-producing cells. Led by Dr. Hongkui Deng at the Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences at Peking University, the team is reported to create new insulin-producing pancreatic cells that freed her from needing insulin injections for more than a year. This promising result, published in the journal Cell, has sparked new possibilities for long-term diabetes treatment.

New Approach to Insulin Production

As per a report by Livescience, the team extracted fat cells from a woman with type 1 diabetes and chemically reverted these cells to a highly adaptable, stem-like state. Then, using a series of lab techniques, the team reportedly converted them into insulin-producing islet cells, which are usually found in the pancreas. The report further mentioned that these reprogrammed cells were implanted in patient's abdomen, where they began producing insulin to stabilise the blood sugar. The report mentions that withing 75 days, the patient no longer needed insulin injections.

Implications and Future Directions

This offers a fresh perspective on diabetes management and could be an alternative to conventional islet cell transplants. While islet transplants have shown success, they depend on scarce organ donations and require lifelong immunosuppressants, which limits their availability. However, the report mentions that this stem cell approach could produce an almost unlimited supply of cells. 

Challenges and Next Steps

One obstacle for broadening this treatment is developing a way to protect these cells from immune attacks without relying on strong immune-suppressing drugs. Dr. Herold pointed out that expanding the treatment's availability would mean finding methods to keep transplanted cells from being destroyed by the immune system. Meanwhile, other biotech groups, such as Vertex Pharmaceuticals, are pursuing similar strategies, using lab-grown cells to balance blood sugar levels in diabetic patients without needing donor organs.

 

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Gadgets 360 Staff
The resident bot. If you email me, a human will respond. More
Apple Offers Modest Growth Outlook After iPhone Sales Help Beat Profit Expectations
Limiting Sugar Intake in Early Childhood Reduces Risk of Diabetes and Hypertension, Claims New Study
Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat LinkedIn Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News

Advertisement

Follow Us
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »