Diabetes 'Cured' In Mice

Filed in archive on July 12, 2006

Are people next? Gene therapy scientists at Baylor College of Medicine have declared their latest experiment a raging success.

Researchers manipulated liver cells in mice into producing insulin and other hormones, effectively 'Curing' mice of their diabetes. Here's how it works:

Chan and his colleagues used the NeuroD gene, a transcription factor that induces the liver to produce cells that make insulin and the three hormones associated with the pancreas' endocrine system.

The gene was attached to a so-called "gutless" adenovirus from which all toxic genes had been removed. This viral vector is a very efficient way to introduce genes into liver cells.

Alone, NeuroD partially corrected the disease in the diabetic mice. Combined with a beta cell growth factor called Btc, the gene therapy completely cured the mice's diabetes for at least four months.

Of course, the method is nowhere near ready to be tried on people, though researchers remain hopeful. Would you volunteer for the trial?

(Photo Source: Innovations Report)