Search Results for: diabetes

Breakthrough for type 1 diabetes: scientist discovers how to grow insulin-producing cells

/ Yimy Villa / 5 Comments

More often than not, people don’t really think about their blood sugar levels before sitting down to enjoy a delicious meal, partake in a tasty dessert, or go out for a bicycle ride. But for type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients, every minute and every action revolves around the readout from a glucose meter, a device … Continue reading Breakthrough for type 1 diabetes: scientist discovers how to grow insulin-producing cells

CIRM-supported Type I Diabetes treatment enters clinical trials in Europe

/ Pallavi Penumetcha / Leave a comment

ViaCyte, a company that CIRM has supported for many years, has announced international expansion of a clinical trial to test their therapeutic PEC-Direct product in patients with Type I Diabetes. The first European patient in Brussels was implanted with the PEC-Direct product candidate that, in animal models, is able to form functional beta cells. Patients … Continue reading CIRM-supported Type I Diabetes treatment enters clinical trials in Europe

How CIRM support helped a promising approach to type 1 diabetes get vital financial backing

/ Kevin McCormack / 1 Comment

The “Valley of Death” sounds like a scary place from “Lord of the Rings” or “Game of Thrones” that our heroes have to navigate to reach safety. The reality is not that different. It’s the space that young companies have to navigate from having a good idea to getting financial backing, so they can move … Continue reading How CIRM support helped a promising approach to type 1 diabetes get vital financial backing

New partnership to make CIRM supported treatment for type 1 diabetes even better

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment

  ViaCyte, a regenerative medicine company long backed by CIRM, announced a partnership with CRISPR Therapeutics to increase the number of people with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) who could benefit from their PEC-Direct therapeutic implant. Last year, CIRM granted ViaCyte $20 million to facilitate development of PEC-Direct, a device that both transplants pancreatic progenitor stem … Continue reading New partnership to make CIRM supported treatment for type 1 diabetes even better

Stem Cell Roundup: Gene therapy for diabetes, alcohol is bad for your stem cells and hairy skin

/ Karen Ring / Leave a comment

The start of a new year is the perfect opportunity to turn a new leaf. I myself have embraced 2018 with open arms and decided to join my fellow millennials who live and die by the acronym YOLO. How am I doing this? Well, so far, I got a new haircut, I started doing squats … Continue reading Stem Cell Roundup: Gene therapy for diabetes, alcohol is bad for your stem cells and hairy skin

Stories that caught our eye: How dying cells could help save lives; could modified blood stem cells reverse diabetes?; and FDA has good news for patients, bad news for rogue clinics

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment

Growing up I loved watching old cowboy movies. Invariably the hero, even though mortally wounded, would manage to save the day and rescue the heroine and/or the town. Now it seems some stem cells perform the same function, dying in order to save the lives of others. Researchers at Kings College in London were trying … Continue reading Stories that caught our eye: How dying cells could help save lives; could modified blood stem cells reverse diabetes?; and FDA has good news for patients, bad news for rogue clinics

Stem cell stories that caught our eye: skin grafts fight diabetes, reprogramming the immune system, and Asterias expands spinal cord injury trial sites

/ Karen Ring / Leave a comment

Here are the stem cell stories that caught our eye this week. Skin grafts fight diabetes and obesity. An interesting new gene therapy strategy for fighting type 1 diabetes and obesity surfaced this week. Scientists from the University of Chicago made genetically engineered skin grafts that secrete a peptide hormone called glucagon-liked peptide-1 (GLP-1). This … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: skin grafts fight diabetes, reprogramming the immune system, and Asterias expands spinal cord injury trial sites

ViaCyte treats first patients in PEC-Direct stem cell trial for type 1 diabetes

/ Karen Ring / 1 Comment

Today, ViaCyte shared an update on its latest clinical trial for type 1 diabetes (T1D). The company is based in San Diego and is developing two stem cell-based products that attempt to replace the pancreatic beta islet cells that are attacked by the immune system of patients with T1D. Their first product, called VC-01 or … Continue reading ViaCyte treats first patients in PEC-Direct stem cell trial for type 1 diabetes

Novel diabetes therapy uses stem cell “teachers” to calm immune cells

/ Todd Dubnicoff / Leave a comment

Type 1 diabetes is marked by a loss of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Without insulin, blood sugar can’t shuttle into the body’s energy-hungry organs and tissues. As a result, sugar accumulates in the blood which, over time, causes many serious complications such as kidney disease, heart disease and stroke.  An over-reactive immune system … Continue reading Novel diabetes therapy uses stem cell “teachers” to calm immune cells

Stories that caught our eye: smelling weight gain, colon cancer & diet and diabetes & broken bones

/ Todd Dubnicoff / Leave a comment

How smelling your food could cause weight gain (Karen Ring). Here’s the headline that caught my eye this week: “Smelling your food first can make you fat…” It’s a bizarre statement, but the claim is backed by scientific research coming from a new study in Cell Metabolism by researchers at the University of California Berkeley. … Continue reading Stories that caught our eye: smelling weight gain, colon cancer & diet and diabetes & broken bones