Intestinal Stem Cells

In a recent article, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley found that intestinal stem cells may lead to understand certain intestinal diseases, like diabetes and obesity. Working with fruit flies, the scientists at Berkeley found that when the flies eat their gut becomes enlarged. This is due to the intestinal stem cells expanding the intestines so the food can flow through gracefully. This was a new discovery in itself because scientists initially thought that stem cells just replaced tissues when an accident or injury happened, but other than that they did relatively nothing else, until now. These intestinal stem cells enlarge the gut for about four day and then go back to normal size once all the food is digested. The insulin secreted from the intestines is what causes the intestinal stem cells to expand and enlarge the intestines. This phenomenon may give insight to the therapeutic use of stem cells in gastrointestinal diseases and metabolic diseases, like diabetes.  I found this article very interesting because diabetes is a serious condition that should not be taken lightly. The fact that researchers are still trying to find ways to treat this disease is enlightened