Although things do tend to be a little quieter over the summer months, the fact is that this is another issue filled-to-busting with news and features. Frankly there’s a rather silly amount of news, and in some cases big news…. I’m trying to keep abreast of the whole stem-cell and islet transplant, or islet-growing science, but it’s a bit of a struggle for my intellect! Still, there are those out there who can explain it better. Circling around that topic, this issue has a few articles on such matters. On p.12, there is news of Vertex buying out ViaCyte in the US, both of which are involved in trying to reproduce insulin-producing islets from stem cells. The aim is to marry tools and techniques to get to the goal faster.
Looking towards future technologies, rather than treatments, we take a sneaky peak at the Swiss-made Sigi insulin pump (p.20).
Meanwhile, I got to interview Steve and Sally Morgan whose Steve Morgan Foundation recently donated £50m to UK-based charities to help find a cure for T1D. Read about their motivation (p.22). I also visited OCDEM (the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism) where there is a DRWF-sponsored Oxford Human Islet Isolation Facility in Oxford. On I report on a conversation with Professor Paul Johnson about the facility and its endeavours to date (p.24).
There’s a fair bit of food news too. Summer picnic ideas, as well as a deep dive into the value of anchovies in the diet in our regular Making Carbs Count section on p.38. In total there are five recipe ideas to download as PDFs, should you fancy. Have a wonderful summer. We’ll be back at the end of September with our next issue. – Editor, Sue Marshall
