Japan hospital uses insulin-producing iPS cells for type 1 diabetes

A Japanese hospital said Monday it has completed a clinical test to transplant induced pluripotent stem cells that produce insulin to treat a patient with type 1 diabetes, in a step that could ease the burden of injecting daily insulin shots.Kyoto University Hospital performed the surgery in February using iPS cell-derived pancreatic islet cells to confirm the safety of the procedure for the autoimmune disease, which prevents the pancreas from making insulin.The patient, who is healthy and has since been discharged, will be monitored for up to five years, the hospital said.Daisuke Yabe, the…READ FULL ARTICLE