Human Stem Cell Transplants Successfully Reversed Diabetes in Mice

Scientists successfully reversed diabetes in mice by transplanting mice human stem cells into mice in a discovery that may lead to way to finding a cure for a disease that affects 8.3 percent of the U.S. population. 
 
Researchers say that the latest study, published in the journal Diabetes, was the first to show that human stem cell transplants can successfully restore insulin production and reverse type 1 diabetes in mice.
 
In an experiment designed to mimic human clinical conditions, researchers were able to wean diabetic mice off of insulin four months after the rodents were transplanted with human pancreatic stem cells.
 
Scientists led by Timothy Kieffer, a professor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Canada, and scientists from the New Jersey-based BetaLogics, were able to recreate the "feedback loop" that enabled insulin levels to automatically rise or fall based on the rodents’ blood glucose levels. 
 
Additionally, researchers found that the mice were able to maintain healthy blood sugar levels even after they were fed large quantities of sugar