Via ASweetLife.org – JDRF announced that research financed by JDRF may hold a key component for a possible type 1 diabetes cure.

According to Patricia Kilian, Ph.D., Program Director for Regeneration at JDRF, the study showed that the stress hormone could increase the rate at which insulin-producing cells in the pancreas expand in animal models. These findings reinforce the potential of regeneration as a cure for diabetes and provide insights for discovering new approaches to treat people with diabetes by restoring or regenerating their ability to produce insulin.

Further reading over at the JDRF site…

Researchers from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center have discovered that a specific gene – Sox17 – plays an important role in directing cells to become part of the pancreas or part of the bile duct (used in the digestion of food).

Research in mouse embryos found that the Sox17 gene “acts like a toggle or binary switch that sets off a cascade of genetic events,” said the study’s senior investigator, James Wells.

You can read more on this exciting breakthrough on the Diabetes UK website…