Diabetes may become curable

Ever since the discovery of human embryonic stem cells, one of the main goals was to use them for treating diseases caused by dysfunctional or damaged cells. Diabetes is one of such diseases. Beta cells in pancreas produce insulin and the destruction of these cells causes Type I diabetes.

But efforts to turn embryonic stem cells into beta cells proved to be “frustratingly slow.”

 Treating type I diabetes has come a step closer. Two studies show that enough beta cells can be produced in less than two months to replace beta cells seen in the body. But before being used, the causal factor for beta cells deaths has to be identified. Meanwhile, much can be learnt about beta cells by studying the lab grown ones with the naturally occurring ones.