Kalam hopes for permanent cure for diabetes in 3 years

Hailing the advancements in stem cell research that led to production of insulin-secreting beta cells in the pancreas as one of the major breakthroughs in science during 2014, former President and scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has expressed hope of a permanent cure for diabetes in the next three years.

Delivering the valedictory address of Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineerings (SJCE) Golden Jubilee celebrations here, Dr. Kalam said scientists had successfully found a way to turn human embryonic stem cells into beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. The destruction of the insulin producing cells in the pancreas causes Type-1 diabetes. Presently, persons suffering from diabetes inject the required dozes of insulin into their body to keep the sugar level in the blood under check.

Dr. Kalam was referring to the research by a team of scientists from Harvard that had appeared in scientific journals. However, he said studies were still continuing to find out the reasons for the pancreatic cells to stop producing insulin. I am hopeful that a permanent cure for diabetes can be found in the next three years, he said.

Please Wait while comments are loading...

1. Comments will be moderated by The Hindu editorial team. 2. Comments that are abusive, personal, incendiary or irrelevant cannot be published. 3. Please write complete sentences. Do not type comments in all capital letters, or in all lower case letters, or using abbreviated text. (example: u cannot substitute for you, d is not 'the', n is not 'and'). 4. We may remove hyperlinks within comments. 5. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name, to avoid rejection.

View original post here:
Kalam hopes for permanent cure for diabetes in 3 years