In December 2024, a groundbreaking medical milestone occurred. A 42-year-old Swedish man with type 1 diabetes received 17 injections of donated pancreatic islet cells that had been gene-edited using CRISPR. These edits removed immune-targeting markers (HLA I and II) and boosted CD47 proteins—effectively telling his body, “this is us.” The result? His immune system did not reject the cells, and three months later, those transplanted cells were still producing insulin without requiring lifelong immunosuppressant drug.

It wasn’t a cure just yet—his body produced only about 7% of a normal insulin dose—but it marked the clearest demonstration yet that this type of cellular transplant can survive and function in humans. The patient will now be monitored for 15 years, and scientists plan to scale up by using lab-grown, gene-edited beta cells in the future. This breakthrough provides real momentum toward a vision long-anticipated by people with diabetes: a treatment that mimics the body's own insulin production without immune suppression. That’s what’s right with the world.