Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have uncovered a novel route to stimulate the growth of healthy insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells in a preclinical model of diabetes. The findings hold promise for future therapeutics that will improve the lives of individuals with type 2 diabetes—a condition that affects more than half a billion people worldwide.

This study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation on Sept. 15, demonstrated that activating a pathway to promote cell division not only expanded the population of insulin-producing cells, but, surprisingly, it also enhanced the cells' function.