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New Zealand Herald Article - NZ pioneer brings cure for diabetes a step closer
December 15, 2006
NZ pioneer brings cure for diabetes a step closer
By Martin Johnston
New Zealand Herald
December 15, 2006
Ground-breaking Auckland medical scientist Bob Elliott has devised
a revolutionary treatment to prevent Type 1 diabetes.
The experimental treatment has been used only in mice, but it has
produced good results. If these continue, trials on people could
start within 10 years.
Type 1 diabetes affects about 11,000 New Zealanders. It usually
occurs in childhood and leaves sufferers unable to produce insulin
- used by
the body to process glucose - and needing regular
injections of
synthetic insulin.
It is an auto-immune disease, in which antibodies form and then
kill insulin-producing cells
The new approach developed by Professor Elliott and his team at
Living Cell Technologies involves injecting cells taken from neonatal
piglets and coated with a gel to protect them from the human immune system.
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New Zealand Herald Article - NZ pioneer brings cure for diabetes
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