Possible Fix for Diabetes?

In people  who  suffer from type I diabetes,  the beta cells of the pancreas that normally produce insulin are destroyed  by the patient’s  overactive immune system. Without insulin, the cells of the body cannot take up glucose and they starve. Patients  with type I diabetes require insulin injections several times a day for their entire  lives.   The  only  current  cure  is a pancreatic transplant from  a recently  deceased  donor, but  the demand  for  transplants far  outweighs  the  supply. While  adult  stem  cells have  not  yet been  found  in the pancreas, scientists have made progress trans- forming embryonic  stem cells into insulin-producing cells.  Combining beta-cell transplants with methods to “fix” the patient’s immune system—including chemotherapy
to  destroy  malfunctioning immune- system cells and blood transplants to replenish healthy white  blood  cells—could  offer  great  hope  for  the many Americans suffering with type I diabetes.