Reports from an early, phase 1 clinical trial are encouraging for the reversal of Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the pancreas’s insulin-producing cells. Without insulin, blood sugar builds up in the bloodstream and causes damage to the body. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1.7 million Americans have the disease for which there currently is no cure.

The Chinese study, published in the journal Cell, reported on the progress of a 25-year-old woman with Type 1 diabetes that underwent stem-cell therapy made from her own cells. She began producing her own insulin less than three months after the treatment and continued to be free from insulin injections after one year. More research and development of cost-effective manufacturing processes are needed before a stem cell-derived therapy will be available to patients.