Targeting Diabetes
(From the Union Leader). Like heart disease, diabetes is one of the first age-related conditions to be targeted by scientists working on stem cell based regenerative medicine. "Some of the first steps needed to fashion a true stem cell treatment for diabetes already have been taken. How stem cells might work for diabetics seems remarkably straightforward - in concept, if not in details. ... That is fueling intense research at many centers, including UCSF, where scientists are trying to discover the biological signals a stem cell needs to morph into an insulin-secreting cell. [Stem cells] could be a wellspring of transplant material for diabetics with no other options." More than just transplants too: stem cell medicine offers the possibility of full cures for this and other degenerative diseases.
Link: http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showfast.html?article=48110