Type: stem_cell
Status: Published Case Study
Developer: Shanghai Changzheng Hospital / Cell Discovery
In a historic first, a 59-year-old patient with a 25-year history of Type 2 diabetes achieved total insulin independence after receiving a transplant of his own chemically induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived islets. This groundbreaking procedure at Shanghai Changzheng Hospital marks the first time regenerative medicine has successfully reversed long-standing Type 2 diabetes using the patient's own cells.
Doctors took the patient's own blood cells and used a chemical cocktail to reprogram them back into stem cells (iPSCs). These were then differentiated into pancreatic islet tissue and transplanted. Because the cells came from the patient himself, there was no risk of immune rejection, and they began sensing glucose and secreting insulin naturally.
Year: 2026