Treating Diabetes With Transplanted Cells

Part I of Essay
Seventy-five years ago the type of diabetes that affected children and young adults was lethal. In the 1990's investigators found that a hormone, that was produced in Islets of Langerhans, was not being produced in diabetes patients. This hormone, called insulin, enables o ....

Part II of Essay
.... caused by narrowed vessicles, may also be a problem. These effects are caused because insulin injections can't perfectly mimic naturally made insulin. That's why a therapy that maintains glucose values within normal from the begging is needed. An ideal treatment would be the implantation of islets. This, in theory, would only have to be done once and would insure proper insulin production. Successful grafts would also prevent diabete-related ills. At Paul E. Lacy's lab, experiments have been done for twenty- five years ....