Scientists have successfully treated the symptoms of type 1 diabetes in rats and mice using gene therapy. The researchers, based at the University of Calgary in Canada and Yonsei University Medical School in Korea, injected a modified insulin gene into the pancreas of the affected animals. The treatment worked in both species, restoring normal blood sugar levels for up to eight months. The results of the study were published in last week's Nature.
In type 1, or juvenile diabetes, the body destroys its own pancreatic beta cells - the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. As a result, people with the illness cannot regulate their blood sugar levels, and must have daily injections of insulin. Previous attempts to treat type 1 diabetes using the insulin gene have failed, because the resulting protein will not work until it has been 'trimmed' into an active version - a job normally done by the pancreatic beta cells themselves.
In the latest study, the scientists used a 'pre-trimmed' version of the insulin gene, which makes the smaller, active version of the protein. They also attached a control sequence (promoter) to the gene, so that it only produces insulin in response to changing blood glucose levels. 'I'm surprised it worked so well' said Jerrold Olefsky, a diabetes expert at the University of California. He pointed out that promoters normally take hours to work, whereas beta cells can release insulin within seconds of a change in blood sugar. 'This represents a definite step forward and offers a good example of how fundamental research can be applied to problems of human health' he said.
Sources and References
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The gene jab that may cure diabetes
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Gene therapy experiment offers hope to diabetics
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Gene hope over diabetes
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Tweaked gene
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