PEC-Direct Implant / Image: ViaCyte
Roughly 42 million people worldwide have type 1 diabetes, which is caused when the immune system mistakenly attacks pancreas cells that make insulin. Researchers have been working to use stem cells to replace these cells for over 15 years. A recent New Scientist article suggests San Diego-based ViaCyte may have finally cracked the code with their PEC-Direct, an implant the size of a credit card that contains cells derived from stem cells that mature into the specialized islet cells that diabetes destroys.
