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Beta Cells Made in the Lab

Many people with diabetes must inject insulin several times a day throughout their lives. However, after many years, this treatment may no longer lead to a satisfactory result. Therefore, restoring the body’s own insulin production is a major focus of research in the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) in which several DZD partner institutes are collaborating.

In addition to the transplantation of functional organs or cells from human donors, animal tissues or stem cells could in the future also serve as a source for transplants. New regenerative procedures rely on dormant reserves in the body of the patients.
In the current issue of the newsletter of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF ) “Research for Human Health”, various research projects on beta cells, islet cell transplantation, an artificial pancreas and stem cells are presented in an article (in German).