China has reached a major medical breakthrough by successfully curing a diabetes patient using a new cell therapy. After just three months of treatment, the patient no longer needed insulin injections. This achievement offers hope for many diabetes sufferers.
Chinese scientists from Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, the Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, and Renji Hospital developed this groundbreaking treatment. Their work was published in the journal Cell Discovery. The patient received the cell transplant in July 2021, and within 11 weeks, they no longer needed insulin injections. Over the following year, they gradually stopped taking oral medication for blood sugar control and eventually didn't need any medication at all. Follow-up tests showed that the patient's pancreas was working properly again.
How does this new therapy work? It involves programming the patient's blood cells to transform them into "seed" cells, which recreate pancreatic islet tissue in an artificial environment. The body needs insulin to maintain healthy blood sugar levels, and the pancreatic islet tissue contains beta cells that release insulin. In diabetes, these cells stop working, so the body stops producing insulin and becomes dependent on external insulin sources.
