New pancreas cells from sperm....?

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that men with type 1 diabetes might one day be able to provide their own insulin-producing cells by having their own sperm stem cells triggered to become insulin stem cells.

"Because the sperm cells would come from the man himself, rejection would not be a problem and because they are already stem cells, the induction of cancer is unlikely," writes reporter Thomas H. Maugh II.

His report comes from an American Society of Cell Biology presentation by Georgetown University Medical Center.

The Times article says "Biochemist G. Ian Gallicano of Georgetown and his colleagues obtained tissue from human testes from recently deceased donors and placed them in a special growth medium in the laboratory, where they began producing insulin" and turned into "true pluripotent stem cells."

Pluripotent stems cells, I learned earlier this year, can be induced to turn into any human cell — except placental cells.

Totipotent (as in total) stems cells can be turned into any type of human cell. People with Type 1 diabetes can't properly digest the food they eat because they lack the insulin necessary to absorb nutrients into the cells.

Thus, they must take insulin and face constant monitoring of their body's sugar levels. The Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics announced "The Decade of Discovery" earlier this year. Project proponents say they will cure diabetes within 10 years.

Ever the skeptic, I'll believe it when I see it. But there are clearly many efforts to find either a cure or an acceptable "hands-free" treatment that would allow diabetics to live their lives without paying constant attention to the many things they currently must monitor.

Pulse on Health
By Jeff Hansel, member Association of Health Care Journalists
Health Reporter for the Post-Bulletin newspaper, 18 1st Ave. S.E. in Rochester, Minnesota 55904 
Twitter Hansel's Pulse: @Jeff Hansel