This week we have been studying negative feedback and ways in which homeostasis is achieved in human systems. One example, we have looked at in class is glucose regulation and problems with its regulation. Read the article in the link below and make a brief comment.
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/06/scientists-closer-stem-cell-cure-type-1-diabetes
With Diabetes being such a common disease this proposed cure would definitely help a lot of people. Longstanding diabetics would finally be able to overcome the disease permanently. However this solution will without a doubt also be thrown into the pile debate over stem cell research and the possible harms of its uses. It will be interesting to see how this break through is received in the medical community now because the article gave no dissenting opinions.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if these stem cells are generated using the same technique as the STAP cells that we read about (or another ethical method that is unknown to me), it would be an undeniable breakthrough. Although type 1 differs from type 2 considerably, hopefully this potential cure won't translate to type 2 as it could serve as short-term treatment for those whose diabetes are due to obesity. I think that's the only possible negative consequence, but I think it's unlikely.
ReplyDeleteThese findings are great, but for me, not without concern. I'm sure that this experiment will be advanced and pursued and replicated, but I wonder how well/easily/or possibly the results will be able to be replicated? I also have concerns about any unknown or unclear side-effects or by-products the transformation of these cells has or may cause in the cell itself and in the organism as a whole. It would be especially interesting to see how/if it carries through to the next generation. I also have concerns about where the cells will be taken from if/when this moves to humans. Embryonic stem cell harvesting is wrong, especially when there are so many other ways to harvest stem cells, or cells that can be induced into a stem-cell like state (like the mice). I am glad that in the mice trial, the researchers were able to produce these results using induced cells, as opposed to some form of embryonic stem cells.
ReplyDeleteWith diabetes being such a common problem in the United States, I am interested to see how long it will take for the treatments to be approved and tested on humans. There are chances that the treatments could have different effects on humans; however, with such quick and positive results from the mice experiment, I think this discovery has a strong potential to help a lot of people suffering with diabetes.
ReplyDeleteIt's remarkable how many medical advances we have come to through the use of stem cells. Although, the question that still remains is, will this treatment for diabetes continue to be effective, or will patients need life-long stem-cell therapy to keep the diabetes from returning. That being said, thus far, the stem cell treatment seems to be working seamlessly. It will be interesting to see if scientists try to cure other conditions with stem cells in the future, and if stem-cells serve as an effective treatment method for those diseases.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great step toward finding a cure for diabetes, a terribly common disease. And it sounds as though, hopefully, it may be a one-shot deal, with the injected cells turning into functioning insulin-producing cells, thus doing away with future treatments. I have one concern about this treatment, though: a reduced risk of diabetes may actually dissuade some people from living healthy lifestyles, since diabetes is associated with unhealthy eating and obesity. Of course, I am not suggesting that this cure is bad, but people should consider adjusting their lifestyles, too, because though this treatment may cure diabetes, it probably does nothing for the whole slew of other health issues that come with unhealthy nutrition.
ReplyDeleteWhile this is certainly a wonderful occurrence, as was stated above a great deal of medical treatments in recent years have come about through use of stem cells, and perhaps it is simply a lack of faith on my part, but it seems to me that regardless stem cell advances the scientific community should still research alternative methods of treating these diseases -in this case diabetes- such that they have a fallback if initial treatments don't work, or if by some means they should find themselves unable to perform the initial treatment. A failed attempt at a cure can be just as harmful as not treating it at all, even if just pertaining to the person's morale.
ReplyDeleteI think it's amazing that we have found yet another use for stem cells. By placing them in the pancreas to grow into cells that secrete insulin, replacing the damaged ones that don't caused by type 1 diabetes, there will be no/little need for insulin injections for victims of the disease. This method of using endoderm-like cells that mature into pancreatic cells that produce insulin (PPLCs) is a method through which we can successfully reduce hyperglycemia in humans which little harm to the patient: therefore changing the treatment and overall quality of life in people with type 1 diabetes. Hopefully this method of treatment will be approved to test on humans soon!
ReplyDeleteI can’t speak for anyone else, but for me it seems like there probably have been hundreds of these hopeful cures (for any disease, not just diabetes) involving stem cells, mice, and similar principles that simply haven’t translated to common practice in humans, or have move forward so slowly in the scientific world that they’re easily lost track of. Of course, I’m really impressed with how definitively the scientists at the Gladstone Institutes proved that the PPLCs were responsible for lowering blood glucose levels, and how sensible the entire process is. Of course, I’d love to see a cure for the disease that channels almost ten percent of Americans to a life of constantly stressing about what they consume and when their next checkup will be. But reading what the first three people – all diabetics – had to say in the comments section after the article really brought this all into perspective. There is the sense that they had all been promised when they were children first learning about the disease they’d inherited that there would be a cure for it in “ten” years, and now they’re all adults who’ve seen well-past the deadline and are still optimistic, but certainly not confident that anything will change. I guess what I’m saying is that I hope this treatment surprises both of us.
ReplyDeleteI am excited that this process is becoming available. However, I feel that there will surely be some sort of complication that will make this difficult. Seeing as this hasn't been performed on humans, which are markedly more complex than the tested mice, I wonder if there will be issues replicating the treatment. Also, I would like to learn more about this "chemical cocktail." While I understand that they probably left it out of the article so as not to bore the readers, I'm curious to discover the safety and/or true usefulness of these chemicals.
ReplyDeleteWhat is interesting to me is the last line, ""Most immediately, this technology in human cells could significantly advance our understanding of how inherent defects in ß-cells result in diabetes, bringing us notably closer to a much-needed cure."" throughout the article it seemed as if they had already found the cure to diabetes with the process. It is interesting because journalists are already saying that scientists are one step closer to finding the cure to this disease when really they just found an open gap with the small and simple test subjects of mice. I agree with the previous comments that have been made about this article, how this "new breakthrough" in curing another disease is similar to this one.
ReplyDeleteWith diabetes being such a prominent disease in society today it is nice to see that progress is being made towards a cure, but as said before this lead seems very primitive in its development. Mice are so much simpler than humans are in all aspects, and it may turn out that these PPLC's do not transfer well to the human body. There are so many variables that could affect the results when transferring a technique to an entire new species, and any one could end the progress made in this method. That being said, its interesting the way this technique has been able to add another addition to the negative feedback loop, replacing defective beta cells with new ones grown from stem cells. Despite having a high possibility of failure, this new method is helpful in continuing a long and difficult struggle for the cure fro diabetes.
ReplyDeleteAs many have mentioned, since Diabetes 1 has become so common these days, it's great that scientists have discovered a possible cure. However, it will still have to be tested on humans, which could be a long, risky, and possibly unsuccessful process. Securing the stem cells alone could be painful, and cultivating them could span months or even years. Even more, these stem cells could help with other diseases as well. By using different chemical cocktails, stem cells could become anything and help many people.
ReplyDeleteThis could be a major break through in modern medicine if scientists can find a way to cure type 1 diabetes. As I was reading some of the earlier comments, I really agree with Haley. All throughout the article, it sounded like these scientists found a cure for this disease and were close to using it on humans, Like Haley said, the last line of the article said, "Most immediately, this technology in human cells could significantly advance our understanding of how inherent defects in ß-cells result in diabetes, bringing us notably closer to a much-needed cure". I think this 'cure' still has a long way to go before it can be used on humans. Although I do think it has a long way to go, it really is so important that a cure is found because of the millions of people this disease effects.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the article seems to present a cure for a disease that affects more and more people every year like others have noted I wonder how successfully the practice will translate to humans. Hopefully further lab tests will lead the eventual use of this stem cell method in humans so as to observe the long term (and immediate) results of the treatment. Whether or not this leads to a cure (though even in a best case scenario is still in the distant future) I wonder if stem cells will someday become a relatively simple fix to a variety of diseases including diabetes and cancer.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like stem cells are the cure for basically everything. The more research that is put into them, the more promising results appear. While I understand that a lot of these potential cures are still in very early stages of testing, it's exciting to think about how in maybe a decade or less we'll have so many ways to cure some of the worst diseases. But like everyone else has been saying, I'm wondering if it'll be so easy to cure disease in humans with stem cells as it is to cure in mice. So far the majority of tests with these types of cures have been done on animals, and there haven't been many stories of testing the cures of humans. Hopefully those will come soon, though.
ReplyDeleteI think that these types of experiments and the conclusions that come from them may lead to a cure for this disease sooner than we think. However, one question I have about this experiment in particular is how the stem cells that eventually take over the role of the injured beta cells don't end up being injured by the same factor that damaged the original ones. I'm not completely sure how type one diabetes develops in the first place, but I was just wondering if there was something that could cause the same damage on the new cells, repeating the cycle back to the beginning.
ReplyDeleteBecause diabetes affects so many people, this discovery is a huge breakthrough in the medical science field. However, my main concern in this case is the long-term effects of this process. I'm not sure what factors contribute to the development of diabetes, but as Danielle mentioned, I was wondering if these factors could trigger problems for the newly developed beta cells. While people with type-1 diabetes develop it as children, they are still only several years old. After a similar amount of time with the engineered beta cells in their pancreas, would they develop diabetes again? The results of this experiment would have to be monitored years to determine if this procedure could potentially be successful for curing human diabetes.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to see such advances in modern science. The progression of diabetes treatment is astounding; no cure to a preventative mechanism (insulin) to a potential ridding of the disease. This is a huge breakthrough as diabetes is one of the more prevalent diseases in the country and world. It may not save lives such as insulin has but it will completely rid the body of the disease, something scientists and doctors only dreamed of until now. Clearly this method of stem cell transplants is still new and it will take time for it to be used on humans, if it ever is, however there is hope of completely curing patients with diabetes in the future.
ReplyDeleteThis technology is very amazing not just for diabetes, but for all types of conditions caused by malfunctioning cells. A treatment as simple as implanting stem cells made from an individual's own tissue could have the potential to cure diabetes, cancer, and countless other conditions. It would have an enormous impact on mortality rates and populations around the world. However, this treatment is still in its early stages, and we still don't know if it will pose any other health problems or increase the individuals' chance of other diseases, so we should make sure it is thoroughly tested before being implemented on a larger scale. Hopefully, the treatment is effective and safe and can be used to help all those who suffer from diseases like diabetes.
ReplyDeleteAsides from being a great technological advancement, I'm hoping that this will help open the doors to the accepted use of stem cells in biomedical research. I especially enjoy the description of the scientists using a "cocktail of molecules" to cure the fibroblasts that were causing the disease. This experiment goes to show that stem cells and other biomedical breakthroughs can have huge potential, it's just giving researchers the support they need to be able to achieve success.
ReplyDeleteI fully support the use of stem cells scientific research and medical treatment, and I think it's fantastic that another way to help with human diseases has been discovered. I do find it understandable, though, that a few people are speculative about whether or not this cell transplantation method will be effective in humans, since they are more complicated than mice. Even if this is tried on humans are there are some issues that won't allow it this cure to spread to the public, I'm sure that researchers will soon find a way to correct their errors in this ever-expanding science.
ReplyDeleteT1d is a type of diabetes that is unpreventable. Each year more than 15,000 children and 15,000 adults are diagnosed with type one diabetes. T1d also accounts for over 14 billion dollars in medical expenses in the US. If this could be cured with the use of stem cell technology it would be a huge break through. If stem cell treatment could be used to cure other types of diabetes this would be even better.
ReplyDeleteThe advances in stem cell research never cease to amaze me. Stem cell application has provide a cure or at least a deterrent for many degenerative diseases such as Diabetes or ALS. However, the average citizen is not financially capable of affording such costly treatments at this point in time. Hopefully in the near future such applications of stem cells can be made available to the public in order to combat Diabetes and other afflictions.
ReplyDeleteI think the advances that researchers are making is crucial to our world today. The fact that they are finding positive results for stem cell cure in mice, is amazing. Finding a cure for Type I Diabetes could help many patients in the future. I wonder how long it will be until they are confident in their results, and can use it on humans.
ReplyDeleteAs remarkable as this is, it does not provide as much as the fanfare makes it out to be. It is merely a proof of concept for something that many scientists have been working on for a long time. Even then, though it may not significantly help the research community, it might increase funding to the field. In a way, this proves that all the work already being done is justified and should be continued and supported.
ReplyDeleteThis breakthrough is a big step for our world today in coming closer to a cure for diabetes. I think it is amazing how they could engineer cells, the PPLCs, to mature into cells like the ones that are damaged from the disease. Even though these cells did work in the mice, I would like to know what would happen, or what they would do, if they cells didn't work, or stopped working, in humans. Hopefully the scientists will have success when transplanting these cells into humans because this is bringing us closer to a cure that we have been longing for.
ReplyDeleteYet another remarkable discovery that has so much potential to help people in the near future! I hope the scientists working on this problem are able to solve it and find a cure for Type I diabetes because it affects so many children and teenagers. I hope researchers continue to make progress in stem cell research and find cures to other diseases that are both effective and affordable for those in need of treatment.
ReplyDeleteWhile this research is encouraging, it seems to be rebuilding the barn before the fire is put out. The ß-cells in the pancreas are destroyed by the immune system. Finding a way to stop that immune system response seems necessary to creating a hospitable environment for the new ß-cells. Accomplishing this might even prevent the disease.
ReplyDeleteThis discovery could be a good solution to find a cure for type I diabetes, but as several people above noted, it is probably not the first "breakthrough." This particular article did not offer any negative feedback, but it doesn't necessarily mean there is not any. The way the cells are induced to become these specialized cells seems complex and not necessarily safely replicate-able. As Logan said, and I agree, hopefully this treatment will surprise those of us who are more wary.
ReplyDeleteThis discovery leaps over many boundaries that we thought could never be surpassed. Through the use of 21st century technology, these scientists were successfully able to create a cell like a beta cell that could secrete insulin to help compensate for the high glucose levels and therefore complete the negative feedback loop. After testing their PPLC cells on mice with success, I am curious to see if they will take the next step and apply it to humans suffering from type 1 diabetes. I wonder how long this will take or if it will get approved.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting that scientists are continuously finding uses for stem cells. Although more research and experiments need to be done to ensure there are no harmful side effects, this discovery could potentially be very helpful for the medical world and help make the lives of children happier and better. I'm interesting to see how this all plays out; the debates, further research, and how this will affect the lives of humans. With every discovery, there is always disapproval and people against using the discovery on humans, so I'm excited to see if this discovery overcomes the odds.
ReplyDeleteIf PPLC cells can mature into cells like ß-cells and respond to the correct chemical signals to secrete insulin we could potentially have a cure for diabetes. However, when this finally goes to human trial it will be interesting to see how this treatment impacts humans. These scientist’s initial experiments were performed in a petri dish and with mice. While they were successful, humans are more complex and this treatment could have some unknown side effects. I feel that this treatment should first be tried on more complex animals before humans are introduced to it.
ReplyDeleteWhile hope for a cure shouldn’t be put entirely in one study, this process of transplanting PPLCs seems quite promising. My biggest concern is that implementation of this method won’t have the same effect on humans, or that it won’t produce a lasting cure. If the experiments on mice provide any indication of what is to come, this could change the way diabetes is looked at and potentially bring an end to it. I hope to see future developments in this story soon.
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