Human cloning has been used to create stem cells which could cure diabetes by triggering insulin production.
For the first time, scientists have successfully replaced the damaged DNA of a type 1 diabetes sufferer with the healthy genetic material of an infant donor. It is hoped that when these cells are injected back into the diabetic patient they will begin to produce insulin of their own accord. Using the cloning technique which produced Dolly the sheep in 1996, the procedure would prevent the need for daily insulin injections and effectively ‘cure’ the disease. “We are now one step closer to being able to treat diabetic patients with their own insulin-producing cells,” said Dr Dieter Egli, the New York Stem Cell Foundation scientist who led the research. "From the start, the goal of this work has been to make patient-specific stem cells from an adult human subject with type 1 diabetes that can give rise to the cells lost in the disease.” Patients with type 1 diabetes lack insulin-producing beta cells, resulting in insulin deficiency and high blood-sugar levels. | Because the stem cells are made using a patient’s own skin cells, the engineered cells for replacement therapy would matching the patient’s DNA and so would not be rejected. It is hoped that in future the stem cell therapy could be used for a wide range of conditions including Parkinson’s disease, macular degeneration, multiple sclerosis, and liver diseases and for replacing or repairing damaged bones. |