Cellular alchemy: How to make insulin-producing cells from gut cells

Introducing three proteins that control the regulation of DNA in the nucleus -- called transcription factors -- into an immune-deficient mouse turned a specific group of cells in the gut lining into beta-like cells. "Our results demonstrate that the intestine could be an accessible and abundant source of functional insulin-producing cells," says the lead author of the study. "Our ultimate goal is to obtain epithelial cells from diabetes patients who have had endoscopies, expand these cells, add ...