Last week, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that tissue transplants from the pancreas were successful in treating a small group of diabetics. The tissue, which was taken from human cadavers, gave the patients a new source of insulin, allowing them to live without insulin shots. However, because the procedure requires tissue from human cadavers, experts say only a limited number of diabetics could benefit from this new technique. The ability to grow beta cells in a lab, however, would help an unlimited number of diabetics. He says that further testing is required to ensure that these cells can be produced in enough quantity to be effective in larger animals.
Human studies are still years away.
Inc. All rights reserved.