Stem Cell Therapies for Treating Diabetes

As of 2019, more than 463 million people in the world live with diabetes. This is a serious threat to global health and is certainly a big issue in terms of economic impact. In the past decades, there has been active research into using stem cell therapy to treat diabetes, such as type 1 or type 2 diabetes. In this Topical Collection, we define stem cells broadly as unique immature cells that harbor an immense potential to differentiate into various cell types of the body. They can originate from tissues such as the human embryo, placenta, umbilical cord, bone marrow, or blood cells. Since the discovery and identification of these various types of stem cells in the human body, there have been immense efforts to generate human pancreatic islets or insulin-producing beta cells from these varied stem cells, for the purpose of restoring euglycemia. More recently, methodologies to make human islet or beta-like cells have matured significantly. It appears that the human stem cell field is very close to using stem cell-derived islets or beta cells to treat or even cure diabetes. In view of these significant advances and 2021 being the 100th anniversary for the discovery of insulin, we decided to commission this timely Topical Collection, in the hope that stem cell-based therapy will pave the way for the next century in moving the field closer toward an eventual cure for diabetes.

Dr. Adrian Kee Keong Teo
Dr. Jun Shirakawa
Collection Editors

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