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Stem Cells Are Used to Produce InsulinBy: Reuters WASHINGTON, July 31 — Researchers in Israel reported today that they had coaxed human embryonic stem cells into producing insulin in tissue culture, a finding that could lead to a treatment for Type 1 diabetes. The study comes at a time when President Bush is considering whether to allow federal financing for research involving human embryonic stem cells. It was reported in the journal Diabetes, published by the American Diabetes Association. Stem cells from embryos are known for their ability to be transformed into virtually every cell type. Some scientists hope to harness this quality by transplanting stem cells to take the place of lost insulin-secreting cells in patients with Type 1 diabetes, also called juvenile diabetes. In the recent work, stem cells were derived from a human embryo days after fertilization and transformed with chemical prodding in tissue culture into a mass of cells possessing characteristics of the pancreatic cells that secrete insulin, the researchers said. The research was done at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa and at the Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, and was led by Suheir Assady. Dr. Christopher Saudek, president of the American Diabetes Association and a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, called the findings exciting. "People have talked about the possibility that human stem cells could be made to produce insulin," he said. "But here it is being demonstrated." More than one million Americans have Type 1 diabetes, which can strike
children, and even adults, suddenly, making them dependent on daily
insulin injections. People with the disease face complications like heart
disease, stroke, amputation, blindness and kidney failure.
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