Scott King, Hong Kong, March 2010 Scott King, pioneer diabetes biotechnology analyst, and founding President of Cerco Medical, is determined to find a cure for diabetes. More specifically, Scott is leading the development of a new technology that will provide stable blood glucose levels without injected insulin or immunosuppressive drugs. The technology is based on a removable, bio-invisible sheet called an Islet Sheet and research is ongoing now at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).   The research project’s...

As befits its subject, I’m writing this post from a plane — a  company was giving out free coupons for in-flight wireless internet, so I’m spending my flight home to New York engaging in everyone’s in-flight entertainment of choice: reading up on diabetes news. (The in-flight movie is Four Christmases — it’s not like I’m missing much.) As everyone with diabetes knows, traveling with this disease is a major pain in the ass. But I just read an article from the Los Angeles Times about a journey...

Living Cell Technologies Limited (LCT) announced that the first patient to receive an implant of DIABECELL® in New Zealand is progressing well. Dr John Baker, Endocrinologist and Principal Investigator at the Centre for Clinical Research and Effective Practice (CCRep), Middlemore Hospital, reported today that the patient with type 1 diabetes, who received LCT’s encapsulated insulin producing porcine cells (pig islet cells) on 6 October, has reduced his insulin dose by 30% while maintaining his usual blood glucose levels, and...

TikoMed AB, a Swedish biotechnology company focused on development and commercialization of innovative treatments for immune diseases and cell therapies, announced that IBsolvMIR® has been granted orphan drug designation for the prevention of graft rejection of pancreatic islet transplantation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA’s orphan drug designation is reserved for new therapies being developed to treat diseases or conditions that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. The orphan drug designation...

Richard Lane, president of Diabetes UK, has type 1 diabetes and was one of the first people in the UK to receive islet cell transplants.  He was the first person in the UK with type 1 diabetes to come off insulin altogether. Richard received the first of three transplants in March 2005 after a long history of diabetes-related complications, comas and severe hypos. The transplants transformed Richard’s life.  He took the time to tell A Sweet Life about it.  Thank you, Richard! ASweetLife (ASL): When were you diagnosed with diabetes? Richard...

Below you’ll find an essay I wrote last year for the Financial Times.  I wrote the piece about my husband’s type 1 diabetes diagnosis, the way he took it in stride, and the way I did not.  I wanted to cure him, and I still do.  Since the publication of the essay, I too have been diagnosed with type 1.  I know it’s an unusual situation.  It’s also a frustrating one, about which I have a lot to say.  I offer “The Search For A Sweet Solution” now as background information for my readers, and I will refer to...