I just read a fascinating article from the News-Record about ongoing research involving collecting amniotic fluid of diabetics’ siblings, in hopes that the fluid’s stem cells might eventually help reverse diabetes. The article focuses on a family whose daughter, Chandler, was diagnosed with diabetes just as her mom found out she was pregnant again. To quote:<\/p>\n
About a month [after the diagnosis], a friend told Ashley Simpson she’d heard Dr. Anthony Atala, the director of the institute, speak about its work, particularly in diabetes research using stem cells taken from amniotic fluid.<\/p>\n
She told her husband, who looked Atala up online. Then he e-mailed Atala. I have a daughter newly diagnosed with diabetes, and my wife is pregnant, Sam Simpson wrote. Is there anything we can do?<\/p>\n
The Simpsons figured he’d be too busy to get back to them. But “he called me back” – Sam Simpson snaps a finger – “immediately.”<\/p>\n
Atala put the Simpsons in touch with an organization that collects blood from the umbilical cords of newborn babies. That blood contains stem cells that have been used for years to treat serious disorders in the child they came from or their close relatives.<\/p>\n
The organization normally didn’t store amniotic fluid but agreed to store Ashley Simpson’s. Atala and a colleague, Dr. Shay Soker, who is leading the institute’s diabetes research, told the Simpsons its stem cells were Chandler’s best hope for a cure.<\/p>\n
When baby Isabelle was born in late 2006, the Simpsons also collected and banked her umbilical cord and placenta, just in case.<\/p>\n
And now they wait.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Fascinating. Too bad I’m an only child.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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Could A Girl's Baby Sister Provide A Cure? | ASweetLife<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=751\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Catherine Price\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=751\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=751\",\"name\":\"Could A Girl's Baby Sister Provide A Cure? | ASweetLife\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=751#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=751#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-09-18T00:43:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-27T20:47:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f16ebb52b0d6b1882336149c48618b74\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=751#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=751\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=751#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=751#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Could A Girl’s Baby Sister Provide A Cure?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f16ebb52b0d6b1882336149c48618b74\",\"name\":\"Catherine Price\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/991f86d105bb54022be9be587aa788fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/991f86d105bb54022be9be587aa788fa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Catherine Price\"},\"description\":\"Catherine Price was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. She has written for publications including The Best American Science Catherine Price is a professional journalist who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. Her work has been featured in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men\u2019s Journal, Health Magazine, The Oprah Magazine, and Outside, among others. 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