Diabetes and Light Sensitive Cells

Diabetes is a common illness that affects around 30 million people in the USA alone. Because of this, there is a big need to find effective treatment that will help the patients lead normal lives. Until now the treatment for the illness was either an injection of insulin or the use of pharmaceuticals.

The researchers working on this project want to see if it is possible to stimulate pancreas cells to produce insulin. However, they want to do this with the use of blue light and optogenetics and not conventional medication. Furthermore, such advancement will help millions of people and it will decrease their spending on medicine.

The researchers use modified pancreatic beta-cells that they insert into the skin of diabetic mice. Because of genetic engineering, the cells become light sensitive. That means that they respond to light as a stimulus that changes how they work. In this case the light stimulation helps the cells produce more insulin.

The results of the experiment show positive outcomes on the health of diabetic mice. That is, the treatment was effective in controlling the blood-sugar levels and reducing hyperglycemia.

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