An effort by researchers at the University of Chicago to confirm the results of a high-profile study that brought extraordinary hope to diabetes researchers and patients worldwide has met with considerable, but not complete, success. The researchers were able to reverse type-1 diabetes in one-third of mice but were unable to find any evidence of insulin-producing beta cells derived from donated spleen cells, initially thought to be a crucial component of the therapy. Two other research teams, one from Harvard University and one from Washington University in St. Louis, found similar results. All three papers are published in the March 24, 2006, issue of Science.
