New In Vitro Technologies Could Help Prevent Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes, affects about 1.25 million people in the United States. For reasons still unclear, the immune system attacks and destroys beta cells in the pancreas thus compromising hormone insulin production and release. As a consequence, patients affected by type 1 diabetes must take insulin for life. Taking advantage of organ-on-a-chip systems and genetic technologies, Johnson & Johnson, in collaboration with academic institutions and health care companies, will start a new project aimed at exploring how specific immune system cells are involved in the initiation of type 1 diabetes. These new technologies will allow testing new drugs in vitro in systems mimicking human organ response, contributing to the replacement of animal testing.