7 ms·

Johnson and Johnson, ViaCyte Testing Possible Diabetes Cure

44 points by Shivetya 11y ago

dbcooper 11y ago
TIL: go.com still exists.
- jdmichal 11y ago
  Disney has owned go.com since at least 1998. Why would you ever expect Disney to give up such a powerful domain name? https://whois.icann.org/en/lookup?name=go.com https://whois.icann.org/en/lookup?name=go.com
sageabilly 11y ago
The meat of the announcement, from Fortune[1]: The therapy, which is being tested in a small number of patients with Type 1 diabetes, implants a small capsule under the skin that is teeming with insulin-producing cells made from embryonic stem cells. The capsule acts like an artificial pancreas, creating insulin in diabetic bodies that can’t make their own. [1]http://fortune.com/2016/02/04/diabetes-cure-johnson-viacyte/ http://fortune.com/2016/02/04/diabetes-cure-johnson-viacyte/
- adrianN 11y ago
  I wonder how long it will be until we get small capsules with genetically engineered liver cells that make us immune against various poisons.
- coldpie 11y ago
  So this is actually about Type 1? I usually ignore headlines that don't specify, since they're almost always about Type 2.
  - tonyedgecombe 11y ago
    It's a shame they don't have different names, so many people get confused between the two.
    - hockeybias 11y ago
      Agreed.
  - rincebrain 11y ago
    They say further down that, eventually, if this works, it or something similar could be useful for treating Type 2, but yes, it's about Type 1.
    - reasonattlm 11y ago
      Type 2 doesn't need new biotech. Simple fasting works so well that you have to wonder at the vast numbers of people suffering unnecessarily because they don't just try this. Not becoming obese in the first place works even better, of course. http://www.bbc.com/news/health-13887909 http://www.bbc.com/news/health-13887909
      - chillydawg 11y ago
        Not much to wonder about. Being fat in modern society is incredibly easy as food becomes increasinly addictive and laden with sugar. Sure, it's "easy" to lose weight: eat less, do more. But people don't.
        ArkyBeagle 11y ago
        It's not easy. People don't manage to do it , so it's not easy. (the anthropic principle: use it)
  - gadders 11y ago
    Slightly Offtopic: People I know with Type 1 diabetes are slightly resentful of people with Type 2, and make pains to make clear that their diabetes is not the one associated with obesity and lack of exercise.
    - coldpie 11y ago
      I'm a Type 1 diabetic. I recognize what you're talking about, though I wouldn't phrase it like that. It's not that I'm resentful of people with another disease, but rather the fact that two unrelated diseases have the same name, leading people to assume I've lead an unhealthy lifestyle because I have "Diabetes", while in reality I work very hard to stay healthy. Edit: Actually, reading sibling reasonattlm's comment, I take it back. I do get a bit of resentment. I work very hard to manage my health and my incurable diabetes. It kills me to watch my obese acquaintances slowly work their way into acquiring this awful disease when it could be avoided with relatively little effort.
      - hockeybias 11y ago
        Ditto.
      - gozur88 11y ago
        >It's not that I'm resentful of people with another disease, but rather the fact that two unrelated diseases have the same name, leading people to assume I've lead an unhealthy lifestyle because I have "Diabetes", while in reality I work very hard to stay healthy. That's not a good assumption to make. It's probably true in most cases, but there are lots of people with type 2 diabetes who've never been sedentary or at an unhealthy weight. Sometimes it's just genetic. Also, if you have a condition that requires you to take steroids you can end up with type 2 diabetes as a side effect.
      - gadders 11y ago
        Depends on your friends :-) I have a friend who jokingly tells people "Yeah, I've got proper diabetes, not fat bastard diabetes." I don't think the wish people ill who have Type 2, but I do think they want people to know it's through no fault of their own. It's bit like if a non-smoker had lung cancer. I expect they would be at pains to make clear that they didn't catch it through smoking; that they were unlucky rather than unwise.
  - gozur88 11y ago
    Really? Seems like most of the progress recently has been against type 1. In many ways it's an easier problem to tackle.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
refurb 11y ago
These headlines are starting to annoy me. Yes, it says "possible cure", but I'd bet if you asked the companies involved if they were comfortable with the headline, they would say "no".
- mnw21cam 11y ago
  Cure - no. Treatment - possibly. Very early after type 1 diabetes was discovered, doctors tried transplanting bits of pancreas to see if it could help, but the body's immune system destroyed the transplants extraordinarily quickly. If this membrane works to keep the immune system out, that could be very interesting. I work on research into monogenic diabetes, where the beta-cells lack the working gene required to produce insulin, and I am guessing this would work on that too.
  - orclev 11y ago
    As a type 1 this sounds great, but my concern is if you have this sack of cells sitting in your body that's insulated from the immune system, what happens if some kind of infection manages to take hold inside of the sack? I don't know how common it is for instance for something like a virus to infect pancreas cells, but it seems like if one did manage to take hold inside of this "device" that could be incredibly bad. I'm also working on the assumption that this same membrane might protect it from bacterial infection, but that's also a big assumption, and if it doesn't that seems like it could be even worse.
    - rincebrain 11y ago
      They address this in the article, saying that "Because of the protective capsule, which is flattish and smaller than a business card, if something goes awry, the capsule can be removed immediately to prevent patient harm."
      - gozur88 11y ago
        Whether or not that's a deal killer really depends on how often it happens.
Shivetya 11y ago
Well the only issues I have is that it requires the device to be implanted and the details are scarce on what that involves. How big is this device really? Capsule is used then business card and lets be honest, there ain't much in common with the two. Can new cells be added without surgery?
- kahirsch 11y ago
  Picture here: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/oct/07/stem-cell-meeting-mesa-2014/ http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/oct/07/stem-ce...

44 points by Shivetya 11y ago

dbcooper 11y ago

TIL: go.com still exists.

jdmichal 11y ago
Disney has owned go.com since at least 1998. Why would you ever expect Disney to give up such a powerful domain name? https://whois.icann.org/en/lookup?name=go.com https://whois.icann.org/en/lookup?name=go.com

sageabilly 11y ago

The meat of the announcement, from Fortune[1]: The therapy, which is being tested in a small number of patients with Type 1 diabetes, implants a small capsule under the skin that is teeming with insulin-producing cells made from embryonic stem cells. The capsule acts like an artificial pancreas, creating insulin in diabetic bodies that can’t make their own. [1]http://fortune.com/2016/02/04/diabetes-cure-johnson-viacyte/ http://fortune.com/2016/02/04/diabetes-cure-johnson-viacyte/

adrianN 11y ago
I wonder how long it will be until we get small capsules with genetically engineered liver cells that make us immune against various poisons.
coldpie 11y ago
So this is actually about Type 1? I usually ignore headlines that don't specify, since they're almost always about Type 2.
- tonyedgecombe 11y ago
  It's a shame they don't have different names, so many people get confused between the two.
  - hockeybias 11y ago
    Agreed.
- rincebrain 11y ago
  They say further down that, eventually, if this works, it or something similar could be useful for treating Type 2, but yes, it's about Type 1.
  - reasonattlm 11y ago
    Type 2 doesn't need new biotech. Simple fasting works so well that you have to wonder at the vast numbers of people suffering unnecessarily because they don't just try this. Not becoming obese in the first place works even better, of course. http://www.bbc.com/news/health-13887909 http://www.bbc.com/news/health-13887909
    - chillydawg 11y ago
      Not much to wonder about. Being fat in modern society is incredibly easy as food becomes increasinly addictive and laden with sugar. Sure, it's "easy" to lose weight: eat less, do more. But people don't.
      - ArkyBeagle 11y ago
        It's not easy. People don't manage to do it , so it's not easy. (the anthropic principle: use it)
- gadders 11y ago
  Slightly Offtopic: People I know with Type 1 diabetes are slightly resentful of people with Type 2, and make pains to make clear that their diabetes is not the one associated with obesity and lack of exercise.
  - coldpie 11y ago
    I'm a Type 1 diabetic. I recognize what you're talking about, though I wouldn't phrase it like that. It's not that I'm resentful of people with another disease, but rather the fact that two unrelated diseases have the same name, leading people to assume I've lead an unhealthy lifestyle because I have "Diabetes", while in reality I work very hard to stay healthy. Edit: Actually, reading sibling reasonattlm's comment, I take it back. I do get a bit of resentment. I work very hard to manage my health and my incurable diabetes. It kills me to watch my obese acquaintances slowly work their way into acquiring this awful disease when it could be avoided with relatively little effort.
    - hockeybias 11y ago
      Ditto.
    - gozur88 11y ago
      >It's not that I'm resentful of people with another disease, but rather the fact that two unrelated diseases have the same name, leading people to assume I've lead an unhealthy lifestyle because I have "Diabetes", while in reality I work very hard to stay healthy. That's not a good assumption to make. It's probably true in most cases, but there are lots of people with type 2 diabetes who've never been sedentary or at an unhealthy weight. Sometimes it's just genetic. Also, if you have a condition that requires you to take steroids you can end up with type 2 diabetes as a side effect.
    - gadders 11y ago
      Depends on your friends :-) I have a friend who jokingly tells people "Yeah, I've got proper diabetes, not fat bastard diabetes." I don't think the wish people ill who have Type 2, but I do think they want people to know it's through no fault of their own. It's bit like if a non-smoker had lung cancer. I expect they would be at pains to make clear that they didn't catch it through smoking; that they were unlucky rather than unwise.
- gozur88 11y ago
  Really? Seems like most of the progress recently has been against type 1. In many ways it's an easier problem to tackle.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

refurb 11y ago

These headlines are starting to annoy me. Yes, it says "possible cure", but I'd bet if you asked the companies involved if they were comfortable with the headline, they would say "no".

mnw21cam 11y ago
Cure - no. Treatment - possibly. Very early after type 1 diabetes was discovered, doctors tried transplanting bits of pancreas to see if it could help, but the body's immune system destroyed the transplants extraordinarily quickly. If this membrane works to keep the immune system out, that could be very interesting. I work on research into monogenic diabetes, where the beta-cells lack the working gene required to produce insulin, and I am guessing this would work on that too.
- orclev 11y ago
  As a type 1 this sounds great, but my concern is if you have this sack of cells sitting in your body that's insulated from the immune system, what happens if some kind of infection manages to take hold inside of the sack? I don't know how common it is for instance for something like a virus to infect pancreas cells, but it seems like if one did manage to take hold inside of this "device" that could be incredibly bad. I'm also working on the assumption that this same membrane might protect it from bacterial infection, but that's also a big assumption, and if it doesn't that seems like it could be even worse.
  - rincebrain 11y ago
    They address this in the article, saying that "Because of the protective capsule, which is flattish and smaller than a business card, if something goes awry, the capsule can be removed immediately to prevent patient harm."
    - gozur88 11y ago
      Whether or not that's a deal killer really depends on how often it happens.

Shivetya 11y ago

Well the only issues I have is that it requires the device to be implanted and the details are scarce on what that involves. How big is this device really? Capsule is used then business card and lets be honest, there ain't much in common with the two. Can new cells be added without surgery?

kahirsch 11y ago
Picture here: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/oct/07/stem-cell-meeting-mesa-2014/ http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/oct/07/stem-ce...