Science & technology | Sweet science

New treatments are emerging for type-1 diabetes

The trick is to outsmart the immune system

Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of an islet of Langerhans from the pancreas.
Photograph: Science Photo Library

“WHERE ARE the islets of Langerhans?” is a trick question that pops up from time to time in quizzes. The answer is to be found not in atlases of geography, but rather in those of anatomy, for the so-called islets are in fact clusters of cells scattered through the pancreas. There they synthesise and release a range of hormones, including insulin, which regulates glucose levels and thus metabolism.

This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Beta testing”

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