Converting pancreatic cells into beta cells
An article published in the journal Nature reports how scientists have converted pancreatic cells into insulin-producing beta cells.In a bid to make this more interesting (my opinion) they're calling this process "extreme makeover". This is of great interest because it means that stem cells may not be needed to produce replacement cells for different parts of the body.
I think that, for those of us with type 1 diabetes, it still leaves us with the problem that these newly-converted cells are still subject to the same destructive forces that killed off our original beta cells. But it's certainly a step in the right direction.
According to US News and World Report, the conversion involves three transcription factors (think of them as ingredients in the process). While the cells did reduce high blood sugar they didn't respond to glucose.
To me it will be a long time before this research produces any real world solutions to diabetes. But it's another piece of the puzzle that may ultimately lead to a cure.
Update: Medgadget has a post about this research with a cool picture of the cells involved.
Attribution: The diagram is from the Associated Press news release about this research.
Labels: beta, conversion, pancreas, research
posted by Bernard @ 12:21 PM
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