An estimated 1.5 million people die of diabetes each year.
Since the advent of sugary candies and soft drinks, humans’ addiction to sugar has only increased over time. Unsurprisingly, the increase in sugar consumption has also coincided with the increase in diabetes in humans.
However, at this year’s American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver, Colorado, a new approach to dealing with type-1 diabetes has been proposed. Type-1 diabetes is caused by a reduction in the number of beta cells that produce insulin, and if enough insulin is not injected into the body, it could be deadly. Beta cells can be transplanted, but due to the presence of a certain protein known as HLA which differs from person to person, the body’s immune system misidentifies it as an external adversary and hence fights the cells.
The new idea proposes a twofold approach, to deal with the two arms of the immune system-the adaptive system and the innate system. The first step is to stop the HLA production in the beta cells which can be done by editing two genes involved in the process. This renders the cells invisible to the adaptive arm of the immune system. However, the absence of HLA proteins alerts the NK cells and macrophages of the innate arm which brings us back to square one. However, this problem can also be solved by genetically manipulating the cells to overexpress a protein called CD47.
So far this method has already worked in monkeys and tests on humans will soon begin as well. This new approach will eliminate the need to inject immunosuppressive drugs as is done in the traditional approach of surgery.
This method is exclusively for the treatment of type-1 diabetes and not type-2 diabetes, which is often caused by overconsumption of sugar. Therefore, this is not an excuse to increase your daily sugar intake!
