Liver cells 'could beat diabetes'

Scientists have turned adult liver cells into insulin-producing cells able to treat diabetes when transplanted into mice.

It is hoped the work will one day allow the use of a diabetes patient's own liver cells to treat their condition.

At present there are limited supplies of donor cells for transplants, and patients run the risk of rejection.

The study, by Israel's Sheba Medical Center, is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Diabetes is a potentially life-threatening condition caused by the body's inability to control blood sugar levels.

It could eventually lead to therapies that allow individuals with diabetes to be the donors of their own insulin-producing tissue
Dr Angela Wilson - Diabetes UK

This is because cells in the pancreas are unable to produce the hormone insulin, either at all or in sufficient quantities.

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