An approach proven to cure a rat model of type 1 or juvenile-
onset diabetes also works in a rat model of type 2 or adult-
onset diabetes, according to a new report from researchers at
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "Finding
that we can cure type 2 diabetes in the same way is very
significant because in humans type 2 diabetes is almost 20 times
more prevalent than type 1 diabetes," says senior author Marc R.
Hammerman, M.D., the Chromalloy Professor of Renal Diseases in
Medicine. "There are about 200 million type 2 diabetics
worldwide, and the incidence is rapidly increasing." The
treatment approach transplants precursors of the pancreas from
embryonic pigs. In a previous study, Hammerman and co-developer
Sharon A. Rogers, research instructor in medicine, showed that
they could transplant the cells in a way that lets them grow
into insulin producers without triggering attacks by the rats'
immune systems. This cured the rats' diabetes without the risky
immune suppression drugs required to