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New Hope for Diabetics Via Insulin-producing Cells from Human Skin
The researchers reckon that the discovery may one day lead to new treatments or even a cure for the millions of people affected by the disease.
The breakthrough was achieved by reprogramming skin cells into pluripotent stem cells, or cells that can produce any other foetal or adult cell type, and then inducing them to differentiate, or transform, into cells that perform a particular function - in this case, secreting insulin.
Many studies have shown that cells can be returned to pluripotent state using "defined factors" (specific proteins that control which genes are active in a cell), but the current study is the first one to demonstrate that cells reprogrammed in this way can be coaxed to differentiate into insulin-secreting cells.
"Not only have we shown that we can reprogram skin cells, but we have also demonstrated that these reprogrammed cells can be differentiated into insulin-producing cells which hold great therapeutic potential for diabetes," said study lead author Yi Zhang, Ph.D., Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
"Of course, there are many years of additional studies that are required first, but this study provides hope for a cure for all patients with diabetes," said John Buse, M.D., Ph.D., president of the American Diabetes Association.
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guest
09/22/2008
This experiment is worth a try, but I don't think using skin cells to secret insulin will really work. Just my opinion, though. But I also know that sometimes when taking insulin injections, that the scent of the insulin comes through the skin.
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