The treatment of diabetes involves the monitoring of blood glucose levels and the injection of insulin to enable the body to process ingested carbohydrates. While diabetes management has progressed, it is far from the ideal case in which the pancreas is restored to proper operation.

Several researchers, with limited success, have transplanted Islet cells from one individual to another [more]. However, a number of obstacles and risks remain including the necessary suppression of the patient's immune system through drug therapy and a scarcity of Islet cell donors.

In an exciting development last year, researchers involved with Islet cell transplantation reported finding pancreatic stem cells in mice [more]. This generated considerable interest because it anticipated a similar discovery in humans and provided a potential Islet source for treatment of diabetes.

Recently, a team of doctors in Argentina has pioneered a new technique for treating diabetes using adult stem cells that could represent a breakthrough in confronting this chronic disease. [more]

Dr. Jorge Saslavsky, the head of the medical team, told IPS that the experiment involved the injection of adult stem cells into a diabetic patient, using stem cells harvested from the patient himself.

It was the first time that the procedure had been used to treat diabetes, and the doctors confirmed that the patient's pancreas, which had ceased to produce insulin, began to function again as a result of the treatment.

This study was performed on one person with Type 2 diabetes whose pancreas had stopped producing insulin. Given the limited size of the study (one data point!), it should be viewed as "preliminary" and with a high degree of skepticism.

In an interesting portion of the article, Saslavsky contrasted a few of the benefits of using the patient's own stem cells to embryonic stem cell research, in which a human embryo is killed to obtain the necessary cells. The obvious advantages of the former versus the latter are that it does not destroy a life and seems to have worked.

When asked why there seems to be a far greater emphasis worldwide on embryonic stem cell research as opposed to adult stem cell research, Saslavsky suggested the reason could be economic.

Because the procedures involved in embryonic stem cell research are far more complicated, they can attract greater funding for laboratories, while resulting treatments would be more costly as well.

By contrast, the procedure for using adult stem cells from the same patient is much simpler and thus far less expensive, as it is limited to the cost of the catheters used to extract the bone marrow and inject the stem cells and the reagents needed to harvest them. .

While there is some merit to the reason presented by Saslavsky, I don't think it is the only one, or even the dominant factor.

Culturally, we look for miracle cures that promise a solution to life's trials and are willing to pour money into them. We want medical breakthroughs and want them now. When scientists suggest that ESC could cure paralysis, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, blindness, heart disease, and numerous other chronic diseases, the public willingly follows. In fact, special interest groups will rally supporters to demand that the government get involved for the good of mankind.

In addition, scientists, and people in general, seem to have a fascination with "creating life" and controlling it. The desire to "be like gods" has motivated man since the first sin was committed by Adam and Eve. The desire to control the inception and development of life certainly parallels the original sin and motivates individuals to step over moral boundaries.

Embryonic stem cell research fits these two categories and, fueled by those willing to exploit the issue for political gain, has been effectively marketed and funded. Although many researchers are altruistic, all require money and must market their ideas by providing suitable scenarios to fit the expectations and desires of the funders.