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Save The Earth

In Utrecht ( Nederland), a molecular biology laboratory has brilliantly succeded to receive stem cell from a mouse pancreas, and forcing them to the insulin production, by growing them in a three-dimentional structure. This is the strong proof that it is possible cultivating the Islets of Langerhans, the cells group which can produce insulin. The test was carried away by Hans Clevers' team at Hubrecht Institute.

This important victory could be utilized in future as an alternative way in current therapies for the treatment of pancreas deseases. These treatments are based on the tissue of "spare" obtained into a test tube or on trasplantations; and they are findind many obstacles: you are not able to develop efficient culture systems in order to get alternate tissues to that damaged one, in laboratory.

The scientists' job consisted in activating signaling molecules ( normally inactive in human pancreas) called wingless/Wnt and the gene Lgr5, essential for mature stem cells. In this way, you may produce an infinity amount of pancreas stem cells. The obtained stem cells were immersed in growth factors and cultivated on three-dimentional structure, in which stem cells differentiated into Beta cell, which costitute the Islets of Langerhans heart. 

The beta cells produce insulin and other pancreas, such as the cells of the ductus pancreatic or lumps of pancreatic tissue called organoids