Could scientists eventually create a living treatment that allows people with Type 1 diabetes to stop taking insulin injections?
It may sound like science fiction, but researchers are already making significant progress towards this possibility.
Scientists are developing stem-cell-derived pancreatic islet cells and 3D pancreatic organoids that can produce insulin and respond to changes in glucose levels. The long-term goal is to restore the body's ability to produce insulin naturally — potentially reducing or, in some cases, eliminating the need for injected insulin.
But producing insulin is only part of the challenge.
For these cells to work as a long-term treatment, they need to survive inside the body, receive enough oxygen and nutrients, and remain responsive to changes in blood glucose.
Researchers are therefore exploring ways to recreate the environment surrounding healthy pancreatic islets, including:
One particularly interesting development came in 2025.
Researchers created a human assembloid by combining pancreatic islets with human blood-vessel organoids. The experiment was conducted outside the body, but the combined tissue showed improved maintenance of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion over time compared with pancreatic islets alone.
This is important because transplanted insulin-producing cells need a reliable blood supply if they are going to survive and function effectively after transplantation.
There is another major obstacle: the immune system.
In Type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks the body's insulin-producing beta cells. Simply replacing those cells may therefore not be enough. The new cells could potentially be attacked as well.
Scientists are investigating several ways to overcome this problem, including:
And this research has already progressed into human clinical trials.
In a 2025 clinical trial involving a stem-cell-derived islet therapy, transplanted cells successfully produced insulin in people with Type 1 diabetes. Among participants receiving the full dose, 10 out of 12 were insulin-independent after one year.
That does not mean scientists have developed a cure yet. The study involved a small number of participants, and researchers still need to establish how safe and effective these treatments are over many years.
But it does demonstrate something important: It is possible to restore meaningful insulin production in people with Type 1 diabetes using laboratory-derived cells.
The next challenge is making that insulin production durable, predictable and safe — without requiring lifelong immunosuppressive medication.
If researchers can solve those problems, the implications could be enormous.
Instead of relying on injections or an insulin pump to provide insulin from outside the body, future treatments could potentially involve an implant containing living insulin-producing cells that sense glucose and release insulin automatically.
In the best-case scenario, this could eventually allow some people with Type 1 diabetes to become insulin-independent.
That would represent a fundamental change in how Type 1 diabetes is treated.
Important: These treatments remain experimental and are not currently a replacement for prescribed insulin therapy. Anyone using insulin should continue their treatment unless advised otherwise by their healthcare professional.
Tubbs E, et al. Human assembloid of human blood vessel organoids with pancreatic islets improves insulin secretion over time ex vivo. Cell Reports. 2025;44:116378.