Using Stem Cells, Researchers Control Diabetes in Mice

Scientists reported on Wednesday that they were able to control diabetes in mice by harnessing human embryonic stem cells. The work raised the prospect that the embryonic cells might one day be used to provide insulin-producing replacement cells to treat the disease in people.
The scientists, at the biotechnology company Novocell, turned the stem cells into cells that produced insulin in the mice. Those cells kept blood sugar in check after the mice's own insulin-producing cells were destroyed.
Still, a small number of the mice developed tumors, and some experts said the cells might not be well-characterized enough for use in people. In any event, Novocell said it would be several years before any human tests could begin.
Doctors are already experimenting with transplants of insulin-producing islet cells from cadavers for patients with Type 1 diabetes, a disease that destroys a person's own islet cells. In some cases, the transplant recipients have not needed daily injections of insulin, at least for a while.
But there are too few donors to provide cell replacement to more than a small percentage of diabetics. Embryonic stem cells, which can potentially be turned into any type of cell in the body, could be a source of islet cells.
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