Luke O’Neill has hailed a “great breakthrough” that could help people with type 1 diabetes. 

A woman in China with type 1 diabetes has become insulin-independent one year after undergoing new stem-cell therapy.

The case study from Nankai University in China has been described as "ground-breaking" by Medical News Today.

On The Pat Kenny Show, Professor Luke O'Neill explained the science behind the treatment.

"With type 1 diabetes your immune system destroys your pancreas and you can’t make insulin and then you become insulin-dependent - it’s a very serious disease," he said.

As a result, the bodies of type 1 diabetes patients do not let glucose enter cells to produce energy.

"In this case, they took cells from a young woman, from her fat tissue, reprogrammed them into beta cells that would be in the pancreas and injected them into her abdomen," Prof O'Neill said.

"They sat there and they began to make insulin in response to the glucose in her diet."

A blood test used by people with diabetes, Alamy

The results from the case-study are promising, according to Prof O'Neill.

"Type 1 diabetics are given insulin because they can’t make it themselves," he said.

"Within two weeks she stopped taking some insulin herself.

"By day 75 she became fully independent of insulin and then a year out she is still insulin independent."

Outlook

Prof O'Neill said the case-study has become a major "headline" in the field of medicine.

"Effectively for a whole year, this young woman is like she never had diabetes at all," he said.

"The trick was to grow these cells in a test-tube - it’s a great breakthrough really.” 

Two more type 1 diabetes patients have now been enrolled in the same stem-cell treatment, following the success of the first case-study.

You can listen back below:

Feature image shows Luke O'Neill (L) and a stem-cell (R).