The initial study, which will start enrolling next year, will involve about ten patients, who will have the stem-cell derived beta cells injected into their forearms, in the hopes that the cells will start producing insulin within the body.
Category: Research
Medtronic announced on June 27 that it has submitted its Hybrid Closed Loop System (otherwise known as the MMT-670G system) to the FDA for approval. While not technically an artificial pancreas, the system consists of two parts: an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor. Once the system has been calibrated, the pump uses the readings from the CGM (which are taken every five minutes) to deliver insulin, with the goal of keeping blood sugars within a target range.
A bloodless way to test blood sugar has long been the stuff of science fiction. But, now, a group of researchers in Wales is moving an innovative idea of drawing blood without puncturing the skin from the conceptual world of Star Trek to perhaps being available at a pharmacy down the street.
JDRF, partnered with Sanofi, the company that manufactures Lantus among other insulins, recently pledged up to $4.6 million to support research into four different efforts to design a glucose-responsive insulin.
Glucose-responsive insulin is one of the technologies on the horizon that Kowalski says he’s most excited about. The other is encapsulation, where insulin-producing cells would be protected from the body’s auto-immune attack.
Nearly 18 months into a breakthrough stem cell trial for type 1 diabetes, significant positive results are emerging. ViaCyte, a leader in stem cell therapies for diabetes, is conducting this first human trial of its kind.
Dr. James Shapiro, the man who perfected the islet cell transplant to cure type 1 diabetes, is evolving his groundbreaking research by working on a method of implanting insulin-producing cells under a person’s skin to try and stamp out the condition once and for all.
"We have developed a special protocol to purify groups of specific types of stem cells taken from the patient’s own blood, and transplant them into the pancreas to allow for their differentiation into beta cells that produce insulin..."
Researchers have gained an understanding of these presymptomatic stages of type 1 diabetes through the TrialNet data, and through studies including TEDDY (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young), which for the past decade has been collecting data from 400,000 children genetically at risk of developing T1D.
You’ve likely read or heard about your gut bacteria, and how scientists and clinicians are developing a much greater understanding of the effects this additional “other organ” on our health and wellness. It’s truly amazing that there are more bacteria living in our gut than there are cells that make up our body! These bacteria have an enormous impact on the development of our immune systems.