Recent decades have seen a lot of progress in diabetes treatment. In a new study, Per-Ola Carlsson, Professor of Medical Cell Biology, has obtained promising results. “This is the first time anyone has succeeded in transplanting insulin-producing cells into another individual without immunosuppressive drugs,” he says.

The treatment available for type 1 diabetes since the 1920s is insulin therapy. Over the years, treatment has improved, according to Per-Ola Carlsson.

“There’s been rapid-acting insulin, long-acting insulin and even sensor-controlled insulin pumps. But we have not been able to offer a cure. Hopefully, with this new concept, we’ll be able to offer a cure in the future.”

What the researchers have done is to transplant insulin-producing cells from a donor to a recipient with type 1 diabetes, without giving the recipient immunosuppressive drugs.

How have you managed to do this?

“We have done this by genetically modifying these insulin-producing cells in three different ways before transplanting them. These genetic modifications make the cells undetectable to the immune system, they go under the radar,” says Per-Ola Carlsson.

So far the study shows good results and now the researchers are moving on to the next step in the treatment of type 1 diabetes. They aim to develop insulin-producing cells from stem cells and produce a genetically modified pharmaceutical product that can be used for many individuals.