Researchers Look To Lettuce For Diabetes Cure

Researchers are looking at lettuce as a possible cure for diabetes.

"This would be not only a cure, but an inexpensive cure," diabetes researcher Dr. Henry Daniell told KMBC's Kelly Eckerman.

Could it be that simple? Could a cure for diabetes exist in genetically modified lettuce? Here's how it works: A lettuce leaf is placed in a machine and then injected with a human gene for insulin. The leaf is essentially producing human insulin, Eckerman reported.

It has been tested on mice. Daniell said he was shocked by the results. By the end of the study, the diabetic mice had normal blood and urine.

"Once this autoimmune problem was cured, the beta cells came back to life and produced normal levels of insulin," Daniell said.

The lettuce has been tested on mice only, which has drawn criticism.

"We've been learning more and more to our disappointment that the type of diabetes that mice get, that we often study, does not translate well into humans in many instances. So I think one has to hold back their enthusiasm and let it play out in the scientific community," said Dr. David Robbins, an endocrinologist at the University of Kansas Hospital.

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