Living Cells Reprogrammed to Make Insulin

Talk about an extreme makeover: Scientists have transformed one type of cell into another in living mice, a big step toward the goal of growing replacement tissues to treat a variety of diseases.

The cell identity switch turned ordinary pancreas cells into the rarer type that churns out insulin, essential for preventing diabetes. But its implications go beyond diabetes to a host of possibilities, scientists said.

It’s the second advance in about a year that suggests that someday doctors might be able to use a patient’s own cells to treat disease or injury without turning to stem cells taken from embryos.

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Tagged as: Diabetes, Diseases, Embryos, Insulin, Mice, Pancreas, Replacement Tissues, Science & Technology, Scientists, Stem Cells, Tissues

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