Researchers led by Tel Aviv University Professor Shimon Efrat have developed a way to cultivate, in the laboratory, insulin-producing beta cells derived from human tissue. If such new healthy cells can be implanted into type 1 diabetes patients, the researchers say their method could artificially replicate the insulin cells, thereby ensuring fewer people will die while waiting for pancreas or kidney transplants.

Efrat said his research paves the way for new and alternative forms of treatment in cases in which organ transplantation is not an option. And, one day, the procedure might become as simple as a blood transfusion.

"The shortage of organ donors makes the development of new cell sources for cell therapy critical," said Efrat. "Using beta cell expansion, we are able to grow a massive reserve of healthy cells that may be made to produce enough insulin to restore the function of the destroyed cells."

The research that included graduate students Holger Russ and Yael Bar appears in the journal Diabetes and is featured in a report by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.