emirates7 - An international research team from Sweden and the United States has achieved a major breakthrough in the treatment of type 1 diabetes, successfully carrying out the world’s first transplant of genetically modified pancreatic islet cells that enabled a patient to naturally produce insulin again.

The procedure aimed to prevent the patient’s immune system from rejecting the transplanted cells. Using the CRISPR gene-editing tool, scientists introduced three modifications: two reduced specific antigens that adaptive T cells use to detect foreign tissue, while the third enhanced production of CD47, a protein that shields against innate immune cell attacks.

The recipient, a 42-year-old man living with type 1 diabetes since childhood, was given islet cells from a healthy donor, injected into his forearm muscle. Within 12 weeks, the modified cells began producing insulin in response to glucose intake after meals—without the need for immunosuppressive drugs.

The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, mark a groundbreaking step toward safer, more effective therapies for type 1 diabetes. Researchers noted that this approach could also open the door to new strategies in organ and cell transplantation for other diseases.