According to the ScienceAlert website, a patient with type 1 diabetes has, for the first time worldwide, begun producing insulin on his own after receiving a pancreatic cell transplant from a healthy donor. The transplanted cells were genetically modified to avoid immune rejection, eliminating the need for immunosuppressive drugs. The 42-year-old patient, who has had type 1 diabetes since age five, received the cells via a series of injections into the forearm muscle. Over the following 12 weeks the cells produced insulin in response to sudden blood sugar rises, such as after meals, and the patient did not require immunosuppressants. The technique had previously shown promising results in tests on monkeys and mice; researchers say the method could reduce the need for immunosuppression and might be applicable to other types of cell transplants.