A ONE-OFF treatment for diabetes is a step closer thanks to a better understanding of how human liver cells can be transformed into something like the beta cells that produce insulin in a healthy pancreas.

The new insights have allowed Sarah Ferber of the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel, and colleagues to implant these cells into diabetic monkeys. The ultimate plan is to take liver cells from people with diabetes, reprogram the cells and reinject them. Because they are the patient’s own, the cells should escape rejection by the immune system, sparing the individual a lifetime of …