It is worth noting that while there is evidence that murine beta cells can regenerate even late into life, there is very little indication that human beta cells

It is worth noting that while there is evidence that murine beta cells can regenerate even late into life, there is very little indication that human beta cells can do the same. Many beta cell regeneration studies die in between mouse and human studies. Some more on the questions around regeneration here: http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/59/10/2340 http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/59/10/2340 with discussion of human versus rodent toward the end.