Microbial origin of T1

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The body needs insulin to regulate blood sugar, but insulin is only made by a select type of cells in the pancreas called beta cells. And there's a narrow window of time during early childhood development when beta cells replicate and expand their population. In people with Type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks beta cells and depletes their population, limiting insulin production.

Microbiome stimulation of immune development helps properly educate the immune system and prevent autoimmunity. The work by Guillemin's team suggests an additional role for the microbiome: It stimulates growth of the beta cell population early in development, buffering against later depletion by autoimmune attack.

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