Diabetes is a disease about which till now it was said that “Once it happens, it does not leave you till death.” The business worth billions of companies making sugar medicines and insulin all over the world depends on this thing. But Chinese scientists have performed a medical ‘miracle’ which has put the last nail in the coffin of this disease considered incurable. China has claimed to completely eliminate type-2 diabetes through stem-cell therapy.

The game of insulin is over

In a historic development, Chinese researchers have reversed Type 2 diabetes by transplanting healthy pancreatic cells into a patient’s body. This experiment has been successful and the most important thing is that now the patient does not have to depend on painful insulin injections or a handful of medicines to manage blood sugar.

According to a report by NDTV, type-2 diabetes occurs when the body is unable to use insulin properly, due to which the sugar level in the blood increases dangerously. In such a situation, patients have to take insulin from outside. Once a person became dependent on insulin, it was considered almost impossible to get their body back to its natural way of working. But China has made this impossible possible.

How did this miracle happen? Understand 4 important steps of stem cell therapy

Scientists have carried out this entire process with very complex and advanced technology. To reverse type-2 diabetes, researchers took the following steps:

1. Obtaining stem cells: First of all, ‘stem cells’ are extracted from the body of the patient or a donor. These cells have a magical quality—they can take the form of cells of any particular organ of the body.
2. ‘Reprogramming’ in the lab: In the laboratory, these stem cells are given special chemical and genetic signals. With the help of these signals, stem cells are transformed into ‘pancreatic islet cells’ (specifically beta cells), which naturally produce insulin in the body.
3. Creating a Cluster: When these cells change their shape, they grow together to form a ‘cluster’ of healthy pancreatic tissue. These clusters can sense changes in blood sugar levels and release insulin on their own when needed.
4. Transplant in the body: In the final stage, these insulin-producing clusters are transplanted into the patient’s abdomen. As soon as they enter the body, they get connected to the patient’s blood supply.

Biggest Challenge: Body’s ‘Rejection’

The biggest challenge in this entire process is to see whether the patient’s body accepts these new cells or rejects them considering them as external enemies. The whole result depends on this.

Once the body accepts them, these new cells start functioning like a healthy pancreas. They automatically detect the rising sugar in the blood and release insulin to bring it back to normal. After this success, the patient’s need for external insulin either ends completely or remains extremely less.

New era of ‘regenerative medicine’

In the final stages after surgery, doctors monitor the patients closely. They ensure that the transplanted cells survive, continue producing insulin and do not cause any ‘immune reaction’ or other complications in the body. This treatment based on stem cells is a living proof of ‘regenerative medicine’. If this technology is successful on a large scale, it will prove to be a permanent, personalized and pain-free solution for millions of diabetes patients around the world.