Modified Liver Cells Keep Diabetes under Control

March 16th, 2005 A report on Viacell Inc. approach to cure diabetes.

June 18th, 2006 Cure for diabetes could be around the corner after US scientists found cells from the spleen can transform into insulin-producing cells. US researchers were able to halt, and even reverse, the disease in mice.

April 4th, 2005 NASH, a liver disease that resembles alcoholic liver disease but occurs in patients who drink little or no alcohol. NASH occurs most often in adults over the age of 40 who are overweight or have diabetes, insulin resistance (pre-diabetes), or hyperlipidemia (excess concentrations of fatty materials in the blood).

April 13th, 2005 News-Medical-Net reports In an Australian first, UNSW researchers have developed three clones of cells from existing human embryonic stem cells. The breakthrough could lead to new treatments for conditions such as diabetes, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury.

March 14th, 2005 A discussion on immune system re-education results.

January 9th, 2008 Of the 20,000 to 30,000 genes now thought to be in the human genome, most cells express only a very small part - which makes sense, a liver cell has little need for the DNA code that makes neurons. But as almost all cells carry around a full copy ('distribution') of the genome, a system is needed to #ifdef out stuff not needed.

April 27th, 2005 Stanford scientists (Yuichi Hori1, Xueying Gu, Xiaodong Xie, Seung K. Kim) were able to transform "brain-derived human neural progenitor cells" (read stem cells from brain) to glucose responsive insulin producing cells after subjecting them to signals that regulate islet development.

March 7th, 2005 Harvard researcher Dr. Denise Faustman thinks she can cure type 1 (or juvenile) diabetes.

March 21st, 2005 Researchers from North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in Manhasset, N.Y. have identified a gene which expresses as a protein called macrophage migration inhibitory factor, or MIF.

May 30th, 2005 A new gene suspected to contribute to autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes and lupus - a condition in which the body’s own immune system attacks organs such as the kidneys and skin - has been discovered by Australian National University (ANU) immunologists.

April 5th, 2005 According to University of Washington about 10 million US citizens have diabetes without being aware of it. Diabetes is the most insidious disease.

March 23rd, 2005 "Positron Emission Tomography is being installed at AIIMS next month, through which we will get the final proof of our work on heart patients. All the patients would be screened for finding how viable our work was and would also study various heart tissues of the patients metabolically," Dr P Venugopal, director AIIMS, said.  "We also plan to inject stem cells directly into the pancreatic arteries of patients suffering from diabetes," he says.

May 20th, 2005 Korean Scientists lead by Woo Suk Hwang and Shing Yong Moon of Seoul National University in Korea have successfully generated new lines of human embryonic stem cells that are exact genetic matches for individual patients, according to a new study. The researchers derived stem cells from patients with spinal cord injury, a congenital immune disorder and juvenile diabetes.

May 23rd, 2005 DeGette, a Denver Democrat, and Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., are sponsoring a bill that would add new ethical standards and increase the number of lines of embryonic stem cells available for federally funded disease research.

April 4th, 2005 A diabetes epidemic is under way. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 30m people worldwide had some form of diabetes in 1985; by 2000, the number had increased to 177m.