 11 million, that's the number of insulin injections type 1 diabetes patients self-administer daily in the US alone to manage their illness. So what causes type 1 diabetes and why do insulin injections help manage the disease? Type 1 diabetes arises when a person's own immune system mistakenly kills beta cells in the pancreas. Beta cells normally produce insulin in a highly regulated manner to control blood sugar levels. Without them, very high or very low sugar levels cause organ and nerve damage, heart and circulation problems, and without treatment with insulin death. Insulin has saved millions of lives by turning diabetes from a death sentence to a chronic illness, but even with the best possible insulin administration, glucose isn't perfectly controlled and patients remain at risk for life-threatening long-term complications such as kidney loss, blood circulation problems that can lead to amputations or death, loss of vision, that to mention the impact of constant monitoring of glucose, dietary restrictions, multiple daily insulin injections and side effects on their quality of life. What if instead of trying to replace the function of the beta cells by injecting insulin, we replaced the last beta cells themselves? A group of pioneering scientists at Biocite in collaboration with academic groups is attempting to do just that with an innovative approach utilizing stem cells. Their work is jointly funded by California's Proposition 71, the California Research and Cures Initiative and JDRF leader in both research funding and advocacy for type 1 diabetes. After many years of work, Biocite's scientific team, along with academic groups, figured out and perfected a recipe to turn human embryonic stem cells into pancreatic progenitor cells that are capable of maturing into fully functional insulin-producing beta cells as well as other cells that together make up the islets of Langerhans. The islets of Langerhans are clusters of cells in the pancreas that produce their hormones responsible for regulating blood sugar. The ability to not only restore beta cell function, but also deliver the other cells found in the islets may be important because these other cells are believed to work in concert with beta cells to optimally control blood sugar levels. There are reports that these other cells also malfunction in type 1 diabetes. Therefore, providing the full community of hormone-producing cells may provide benefits that insulin alone cannot. In order to deliver these cells into the body Biosite scientists also engineered an encapsulation system designed to keep immune cells out, protecting the cells inside from destruction while allowing the free flow of oxygen, nutrients, sugar, and proteins. Cells inside the device sense sugar and respond by producing insulin, which eases the exits into the blood. This ingenious system is called the VC01 product candidate. In animal models, the implanted VC01 product functionally cures experimental diabetes. To find out if the VC01 product can regulate blood sugar levels in humans, like it has in mice, a human clinical trial began at the University of California, San Diego in September, 2014. The results of this trial will be highly informative and will be an important next step toward revolutionizing the way we approach diabetes treatment. The VC01 concept was born from the vision that stem cells can be used to replace any specialized cells that are missing in disease. Advancing this vision has only become possible in the last 10 years, and we've come a long way in a short amount of time. Thanks in large part to funding for stem cell research from the California Initiatives Institute for Regenerative Medicine and JDRF. As we build on the progress we've made, we know there is much more work to be done and we must keep the momentum going. Only by continued support for biomedical research can we bring the most innovative technologies to the patients who need them most. We must remember that clinical trials will celebrate successes, but barriers, complications, and challenges will arise. So patients and understanding of the scientific discovery process are essential.