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VIDEO: Beta-cell replacement will be future of diabetes care
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SAN DIEGO — In this video exclusive, Jeffrey R. Millman, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and biomedical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, describes his work with stem cells to produce beta cells. These laboratory-generated beta-cells, when transplanted into animals, can effectively cure their diabetes.
Currently, people with diabetes manage the disease by injecting exogenous insulin or taking other drugs. However, these methods do not perfectly mimic the function of healthy beta-cells. Researchers hope to have this beta-cell technology ready for human use in the next decade or so.
“What this means for patients is that patients would no longer require daily measurements of their blood glucose levels and injection of insulin; the transplanted cell would do everything for them,” Millman said.