Stem cells and regenerative medicine for the treatment of type 1 diabetes: the challenges lying ahead

: The differentiation of insulin-producing cells in vitro from embryonic or adult stem cells offers potential new treatment options for type 1 diabetes. Progress toward this goal has been made in the recent years, but substantial obstacles still remain. In order to be advantageous over the current standard regimens with exogenous insulin, any stem cell-based therapy would have to restore normal or near normal metabolic control. To achieve this,...