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About 10 British Columbians with Type 1 diabetes will be surgically implanted with packets containing lab-grown cells that are coaxed into behaving like true insulin-producing pancreatic cells in hopes of reversing their disease.

The first patient to receive the implants is keen to exchange his regime of daily pinprick blood tests and insulin injections for a “handful” of pills for immune suppression.

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“My blood sugar can go down all day without my noticing, so I’m always at risk for passing out among other health problems,” said Joshua Robertson. “The risks of immune suppression (medication) are well known and it’s no comparison.”

Photo by UBC / PNG

The trial follows a procedure that successfully cured mice with diabetes, pioneered by Timothy Kieffer at the University of B.C. After receiving implants of millions of stem cells, the mice were weaned from insulin over the course of several months.

Lead investigator, UBC endocrinologist David Thompson called the new treatment the most promising he has ever worked on.