Maternal Stem Cells and Diabetes

UK and US researchers looking for a link between maternal stem cells and the cause of Type 1 Diabetes may have help found a cure. They were testing to see if the stem cells that sometime are shared between a mother and fetus were the cause of the damage to the fetus’s pancreas. It turned out that there are maternal stem cells in the fetus’s pancreas. However, they help to stimulate insulin production, not harm it. Now researchers are looking at using maternal stem cells to implant into kids with type 1 Diabetes, in hopes that these cells can repair some damage. It is also believed that because these cells are a half genetic match there is a greatly reduced chance of rejection.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6286997.stm