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Diabetes "Cured" In Mice With Virus Therapy

Posted by timothy on from the please-trick-my-brain-into-acting-like-a-brain dept.

phlack writes "Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine have found a way to treat diabetes in mice by using a virus (with the harmful genes removed) to trick the liver into working as a pancreas. This is still a ways away from working in humans, but it's progress, at least. Info can be found at Guardian and Science Daily."

5 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Here's a link by VisorGuy · · Score: 3, Informative

    to Google News' list of related articles.

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  2. Re:As a diabetic by GigsVT · · Score: 1, Informative

    Actually, they apparently used liver cells that were treated with the virus in vitro. This doesn't look anything like a viable technology, and they admit it's at least 10 year off to find a suitable carrier virus. And even then, they said something like the person would have to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their life.

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  3. Re:Er, hang on a minute by GigsVT · · Score: 2, Informative

    I read the article, I just misunderstood it. It was a poorly written article.

    The hope is that gene therapy might offer an alternative to another promising but still rare treatment which is undergoing trials in Britain. This involves transplanting cells from other people's pancreases into patients. But patients, even if freed from insulin injections, would have to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their lives and there is a shortage of potential donors.

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  4. Re:Problem of autoimmune destruction not solved by iawia · · Score: 3, Informative

    That is indeed a problem, but it apparently is possible to chart the two effects seperately. The type of T cells used to attack foreign material is different enough from the auto-immune type for there to be seperate tests for the two effects.

    I attended a presentation on a Dutch/Belgian effort late last year, where the subjects were people who had a whole pancreas transplanted. There were neatly seperated charts for the normal immune reaction and the auto-immune reaction, and the combination. Only is both reaction were sufficiently low did the transplant succeed (and the success-rate was rather low, I'm sorry to say...)

  5. Type 1 Diabetes cured LONG ago!!! by ivi · · Score: 3, Informative


    C'mon, fellas... CBC's science program Quirks & Quarks
    reported (over 18 months ago) that islet transplants
    were suceeding in almost 90% of cases.

    A further development (by a private sector co.)
    reported greater success rates or fewer problems.

    Let's get this story as well, eh?