In a landmark achievement, doctors in Shanghai have successfully treated a long-standing case of Type 2 diabetes using stem cell-derived pancreatic cells.
A 59-year-old man battled diabetes for 25 years, relying on daily insulin shots. After a kidney transplant, his condition worsened, putting him at grave risk
While severe diabetes is normally treated with a minimally invasive transplant of islet tissue from a healthy pancreas, there aren’t enough donors in China, where over 140 million people have diabetes
Doctors altered his stem cells to behave like embryonic stem cells. They then used these to grow new pancreatic cells that were transplanted to restore his natural pancreatic function.
Just 11 weeks after the transplant, the man’s glucose levels stabilised and he no longer needed to take insulin. Follow-up tests showed his pancreatic function had fully restored
Experts hope to further develop "universal islets" that could provide a readily available cure without the need for immunosuppression.