GoKawiilHarvard team boosts insulin-producing cell conversion by silencing ALDH3B2 gene
Harvard Medical School researchers led by postdoctoral researcher Jian Li identified a gene, ALDH3B2, that normally suppresses the natural but rare tendency of pancreatic ductal cells to turn into insulin-producing beta-like cells. Silencing this gene in a genetic screen raised the conversion rate from under 1 percent to about 8.5 percent, and when these altered human cells were transplanted into diabetic mice, the animals began producing human insulin and their blood glucose levels fell close to normal.