Transmission electron micrograph of a cross section of pancreatic tissue showing cells that produce insulin
Steve Gschmeisner/Science Photo Library/Alamy
The first attempt to use gene-edited insulin-producing cells in humans to evade immune attack has so far been successful. The cells survived and produced insulin for a month after being injected into a 42-year-old man with type 1 diabetes in early December.
As a precaution, only a small number of insulin-producing beta cells were injected into the forearm muscle in this first test, so the men still require insulin injections. Also, we don’t yet know how long it will last.
