Type 1 diabetes was cured in mice – permanently.

 Type 1 diabetes was cured in mice – permanently.

In a breakthrough study, researchers used a combined transplant of blood-forming stem cells and insulin-producing islet cells to stop the disease entirely. The treatment created a hybrid immune system in the mice – one part donor, one part recipient – that prevented future attacks on the pancreas.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The immune system mistakes the body’s own insulin-producing islet cells for threats and destroys them. The new method resets that broken immune response.

Here’s how it worked: scientists gave mice a gentle pre-treatment using low-dose radiation and immune-targeting antibodies, followed by a transplant of donor stem cells and pancreatic islets. They also added a drug already used for autoimmune diseases. The result? No immune rejection. No graft-versus-host disease. And in every treated mouse – no more diabetes.

In one trial group, 19 out of 19 mice never developed diabetes. In another, 9 out of 9 mice already living with the disease were completely cured.

Most of the tools used in this protocol – antibodies, radiation, immune-modulating drugs – are already common in human medicine. That means human trials could be within reach.

There are hurdles: human islets are limited, and stem cells must match the donor. But researchers are exploring lab-grown islets and new methods to expand donor material.

If this approach proves safe in humans, it could transform not just Type 1 diabetes care – but also treatments for autoimmune diseases like lupus, arthritis, and even organ transplants.

Read the study:

"Curing autoimmune diabetes in mice with islet and hematopoietic cell transplantation after CD117 antibody-based conditioning." Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2025