From Focus:

Diabetics in a revolutionary new stem cell trial have begun to produce insulin naturally - meaning they no longer need to inject themselves with the hormone.

In a joint study by Brazilian and American doctors, 15 young patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes had stem cell transfusions, which were drawn from their own blood.

Led by Julio Voltarelli from the University of Sao Paulo, the team reports that, “Ninety-three per cent of patients achieved different periods of insulin independence.”

People with type 1 diabetes have to regularly inject themselves with insulin because the naturally occurring hormone is destroyed by their own immune system.

The results published in the Journal of the American Medical Association mean people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, including 300,000 sufferers in the UK, may be freed from the routine of needles by a single stem cell injection.