A breakthrough in type-1 diabetes research has proven that it is now possible to make vast quantities of insulin-producing cells for patient transplants.
Scientists have confirmed they have successfully manufactured hundreds of millions of mature human pancreatic cells to treat diabetic mice over long periods of time. The breakthrough means researchers believe that human clinical trials could begin within a few years with long-term implants that would remove the need for daily insulin injections treatment.
Scientists at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said they are confident they can produce “scalable” quantities of beta pancreatic cells from stem cells in industrial-sized bioreactors. Following this they will be able to transplant them into a patient within an implant to protect them from immune attack.
Speaking to the Independent at the news of the medical developments, Chris Mason, professor of regenerative medicine at University College London said:
“A scientific breakthrough is to make functional cells that cure a diabetic mouse, but a major medical breakthrough is to be able to manufacture at large enough scale the functional cells to treat all diabetics. This research is therefore a scientific and potentially a major medical breakthrough.
“If this scalable technology is proven to work in both the clinic and in the manufacturing facility, the impact on the treatment of diabetes will be a medical game-changer on a par with antibiotics and bacterial infections.”
The professor was also quick to note that although research has brought them to this stage before, previous attempts have failed to achieve scalable quantities of the mature beta cells that could be of practical benefit to diabetic patients.
