Researchers have taken the stem cells that would differentiate into sperm from adult men and, after a five-week process, transformed them into cells that secrete insulin, just like the beta islet cells in the pancreas, which Type 1 diabetes destroys. The researchers will present their findings today (Dec. 12) at the American Society of Cell Biology 50th annual meeting in Philadelphia.....
The technique is promising, but there's still work to do.
"We need to get the amount of insulin up to the point [of] being secreted from each cell that it will be enough to cure diabetes in humans," said G. Ian Gallicano, a developmental and stem cell biologist at Georgetown University Medical Center. "If you are a mouse and you have diabetes, you are in luck, we can help you......"
The researchers used cells from the testes of donors from the ages 16 through 57 and coaxed them back to an embryonic-like state, a two-week process. To convince the cells to become insulin producers, they exposed them to chemicals that stimulate differentiation at specific times over the course of about three weeks.
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