Epidemic of autoimmune diseases pushes researchers in new direction
The immune system normally defends the body against everything from microscopic viruses to meters-long parasitic worms. But sometimes, it sets its sights on the wrong target: the body’s own cells. Autoimmunity problems cause many different diseases, depending on which cells are targeted. In Type 1 diabetes, it’s beta cells. Beta cells are located in the pancreas and produce insulin, the molecule necessary to convert food into energy. Without it, patients must monitor their blood and inject themselves with insulin multiple times a day. Scientists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) want to develop a better treatment: transplanting healthy beta cells grown in the laboratory into patients. Having figured out the first part of the process, they are now figuring out how to protect newly transplanted cells from autoimmune attack. Autoimmune epidemic Arlene Sharpe is the George Fabyan Professor of Comparative Pathology at Harvard Medical School. She said that over the past 30 years,...