Malaysians are well-known for their love of fatty, sugary foods, and worrying national diabetes rates are a depressing proof of that. A recent development by Harvard scientists, however, could help stave off the disease.
A research team led by Harvard University’s Doug Melton has developed an insulin-producing beta cell, with possible human transplantation trials only a few years away.
Insulin is a hormone which regulates the human body’s metabolism and its processing of carbohydrates and fats by promoting the absorbtion of glucose. It si the lack of the insulin hormone in the human body that causes Type 1 diabetes, an affliction that accounts for five per cent of all diabetes cases.
Insulin injections are one of the most common treatments undertaken by diabetes patients.
A report by io9.com states that the new beta cells, developed from embryonic stem cells, are currently being tested on animals, including non-human primates, the closest thing in the animal kingdom to actual human physiology.
Read more about the Melton team’s advancements at Harvard Magazine.
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