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May 27, 2007
Sydney Morning Herald
http://tinyurl.com/yu89wz
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Complete article:
HUMAN embryonic stem cells can be transformed
into pancreatic cells that produce insulin, offering
the potential to cure diabetes, researchers say.
The finding, published in the journal Stem Cells,
has been hailed as a significant step forward in
the quest to improve the lives of millions of the
world's insulin-dependent diabetics, especially
children.
Discovering how to replace the insulin-produc-
ing cells of the pancreas, or islets, which are
destroyed by the body's own immune system,
has long been a focus for scientists studying
the disease.
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Aus-
tralia chief executive Mike Wilson said it was
the first time artificially created islets had shown
the ability to respond to the amount of glucose
they were exposed to, just as in the bodies of
healthy people.
People with diabetes cannot produce insulin
in response to glucose, which leads to heigh-
tened blood sugar levels and complications
such as excessive thirst, kidney damage, car-
diovascular disease and fatigue.
Mr Wilson said while the research at US bio-
pharmaceutical company Geron Cor****ation
and the University of Alberta, Canada, was
still only in the laboratory stage, it held great
promise for a future cure.
"This step has never been reached before,"
he said.
Islet cells donated from the pancreases of
cadavers have been able to reduce patients'
dependence on insulin injections, but there
is an extreme shortage of donors, forcing
scientists to look at other sources.
Stem cells are "blank" cells that have the
ability to grow into any other type of cell,
such as the insulin-producing islets.
These islets could then be transplanted into
someone with Type 1 diabetes and poten-
tially cure the disease.
Type 1, also known as juvenile diabetes, is
one of the most common serious childhood
diseases and affects about one in every 700
Australian children.
Current treatment includes constant monitor-
ing of blood sugar levels and diet and lifestyle
changes, as well as daily insulin injections.
Rose Bay parents Greg and Kristen Mason
are hopeful that a cure for Type 1 diabetes
will be found soon.
Their five-year-old daughter Taylor was diag-
nosed with the disease aged 10 months, and
she needs five to six insulin injections every
day. She has a strictly controlled diet and
activity schedule and her blood sugar is mon-
itored up to 10 times daily.
"Every day we are one step closer to finding
a cure so that Taylor can live a normal life," Mr
Mason said.
Source: The Sun-Herald
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