Beta Cells: A Breakthrough in Science
and A Cure For Diabetes
By: Teisha Nelson
With more and more people being diagnosed
with Diabetes every year, the determination to
find a cure is high on scientists’ minds. It has
seemed like the path to fighting Diabetes has
been stagnant. However, new technology and
research has helped scientists to find a strong
pull to finding a cure and it could all be based
off finding or forming Beta Cells and then
transplanting them into Diabetics.
The 2 Types of Diabetes
There are two types of Diabetes, Type 1
Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes
is mostly found in children while Type 2
Diabetes is mostly found in adults. As of right
now, there is no cure for Type 1 Diabetes. On
the other hand, Type 2 Diabetes can sometimes
be cured if the cause is related to obesity. Type
2 Diabetes is controlled with pills, healthy
dieting, and sometimes insulin. However, Type
1 Diabetes has to be strictly controlled with
insulin. In most cases with people who suffer
from Type 2 Diabetes, their body produces
some insulin. However, their body doesn’t
completely produce all the insulin that is
needed for the body to function properly. With
Type 1 Diabetes, the body produces no insulin.
This makes Type 1 Diabetics have to fully rely on
insulin in order to level out their blood glucose
levels.
Diabetes and Pancreas Related
An average of 1.25 million Americans suffer
from Type 1 Diabetes. The disease is continuing
to affect more and more people every year. This
disease has been a constant struggle for
scientists when it comes to trying to find a
cause and cure. In 1892, a German Doctor by
the name of Oskar Minkowski discovered a
relationship between Diabetes and the
pancreas. This became the first major
breakthrough with trying to solve the
phenomenon of Diabetes. In 1893, Minkowski
attempted the first pancreas transplant by
taking bits of a pancreas from a sheep and
placing them in a 15 year old boy with Type 1
Diabetes. Unfortunately though, the transplant
was not successful and the boy died a few days
later.
Islet Transplants- A Possible Cure for
Diabetes?
It was then in 1994, that experiments with islet
transplantation began. Islets are clusters of
hormone-producing cells found in the pancreas
that involve beta cells. In 2000, researchers at
the University of Edmonton in Canada were
able to successfully transplant islets from
cadavers into people who suffer from Type 1
Diabetes. The patients involved in this study
had their body successfully produce insulin on
its own and were able to discontinue their
insulin injections. However, there are some
cons to this procedure. For starters, this
procedure is completely dependent on organ
donations in order to get a pancreas. Another
downfall is that each islet transplant requires at
the very least two cadaver donations in order to
have enough cells for one patient. For now,
there is a limit of 1,500 transplants at the very
most. This number barely puts a dent in the
1.25 million Americans that suffer from this
disease. One last downfall is that it costs
roughly $200,000 per procedure.
The Cause of Type 1 Diabetes
The breakthrough of Islet transplants is
definitely a step closer to finding a cure.
However, it does not solve the cause of Type 1
Diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes is caused by a
malfunctioning immune system. This makes
Islet transplants more difficult requiring the
patient to take powerful and very expensive
immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their
life. They also have to put up with possible side
effects so they can keep their immune system
from causing serious damage to the new beta
cells.
Beta Cells
Once scientists found some success with beta
cells, the next barrier was finding a way to keep
the beta cells alive without the patient being
required to depend on immunosuppressant
drugs. Along with that, the other barrier that
scientists have to solve, is finding a safe,
effective, and reliable supply of beta cells to
transplant without the need of cadaver donors.
Lastly, the other barrier is protecting the
transplanted cells once they have been placed
in the recipient.
Making Beta Cells Out of Steam Cells in the
Lab
In 2014, a group of scientists from Harvard were
able to turn human stem cells into beta cells at
their lab. They were able to have the process be
produced consistently and in large amounts.
The lead Harvard scientist Melton talked about
how this break in beta cells would make it to
where they no longer had to get beta cells from
cadavers and could instead make them. He
went on to talk about how they can produce
billions of beta cells at a time. The process in
which they go about making beta cells consists
of taking stem cells and transforming them into
a different cell type. Stem cells are able to be
transformed and can be transformed into all
kinds of different cells, including nerve cells,
skin cells, even beta cells that can produce
insulin. The stem cell breakthrough seems
pretty simple, however, the research took a
group of scientists at Harvard roughly 15 years
and included a crew of over 50 scientists. The
process in which cells are changed is time-
consuming and can take up to a month and
involves 15 different steps in order to transform
the stem cell into a beta cell. Most of the
process includes teaching cells what to do and
how to respond based off the organs and genes
that are involved in the body’s process for
producing its own insulin. However, the
growing of cells in labs still needs to be further
researched and tested to make sure there are
no safety or effectiveness problems with them.
One worry that scientists have is that the cells
do not secrete insulin as fast or as well as
human beta cells do. This could cause serious
problems with people struggling with Type 1
Diabetes. Another risk is that the lab grown
beta cells could possibly produce too much
insulin in the body which could lead to the
diabetic having problems with hypoglycemia
which is caused from having too low of blood
sugars. This can lead to serious damage to the
diabetic, sometimes even seizures. Lastly,
another possible problem could be if the
transplanted cells decide to continue growing
and multiplying in the patient’s body, they
could lead to cancer.
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beta cells without the patient having to be on BYoAQ
immune drugs. Scientists are testing and
researching a device called an encapsulation
device. The device consists of placing
transplanted beta cells into a flexible container
that has holes small enough to keep the
immune cells out but has large enough holes to
let oxygen and insulin in.

Drawbacks to Beta Cell Transplants

As with any new treatment, there are always
risks and problems. One major problem with
the beta cell transplants is the costs and
complexity with them. Patients would have to
have a minor surgery in order to get them
implanted and would have to be monitored
regularly for the rest of their life. Questions like
how much this procedure would cost and if
insurance companies would cover the expenses
is something that will definitely have to be
looked at closely and weighed out. For those
who suffer from Type 1 Diabetes, scientists
believe that there is a light at the end of the
tunnel and that someday there will be a cure.
Scientists like Melton, who has two children
that are Type 1 Diabetics, believes that within
the next four or five years, beta cell transplants
could be made accessible and found safe for
patients. For now though, people like my
brother who have to deal with the constant
battle of blood sugars, blood checks, and insulin
will continue hoping for the light at the end of
the tunnel to become a reality and make life a
lot brighter.

References
1. Curry, Andrew. (May 2015). Beta Cell
Breakthroughs. Retrieved 27, March 2016, from
http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2015/may-
jun/beta-cell-breakthroughs.html