Improved Method for Creating Insulin-Producing Cells Changes Diabetes Care

April 18, 2026
4 min read

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and KTH developed a more effective way to produce insulin-generating cells from human stem cells.
The new cells showed a strong glucose response in lab tests and reversed diabetes in mice after transplantation.
This advance brings regenerative medicine closer to a real type 1 diabetes treatment option for patients.
Scientists performed the transplantation through the eye, offering a less invasive path for future procedures.

Improved method for creating insulin-producing cells now gives scientists a better tool against type 1 diabetes treatment failures. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and KTH Royal Institute of Technology shared their results in Stem Cell Reports. Their work focuses on a new process for growing cells from human stem cells. These cells helped control blood sugar regulation in both lab tests and live animals.

Type 1 diabetes happens when the immune system attacks and kills pancreatic beta cells in the body. Once those cells are gone, the body cannot pull glucose from the blood on its own. Patients need insulin shots every day because their bodies stop making enough insulin to survive. Scientists have tried for years to grow new cells in a lab to replace the ones the body loses. Past efforts gave mixed results because the cells were not mature or pure enough to work well.

The new process fixes those problems by giving cells more time and better conditions to grow fully. Scientists now produce cells that are cleaner and more complete than those made by older methods. In lab tests, the cells sensed glucose and pushed out insulin at levels doctors would find useful. As I see it, the jump in cell quality is what makes this study stand out from past research.

Researchers Prove Results in Living Animals

The team put these new cells into mice that had diabetes to see how they worked in a live body. Those mice slowly got back the ability to manage their own blood sugar regulation after the transplant. Scientists placed the cells in the front part of the eye so they could watch them without deep surgery. That spot lets researchers see the cells clearly and check their progress without cutting into organs. It also lowers the risk for the animal and makes the whole process easier to track over time.

The mice getting better is strong early proof that the cells work the way scientists hoped they would. Improved method for creating insulin-producing cells like these could one day cut the need for daily insulin shots. The mice did not reject the cells right away, which shows good early signs of the body accepting them. These results give researchers a solid reason to think about testing the cells in humans one day.

Regenerative Medicine Gets a Real Push Forward

The field of regenerative medicine needs a way to grow large amounts of good cells before it can help patients. Old methods made too many weak or unfinished cells, which hurt the overall results in tests. This new process makes more useful cells per batch than any older method published so far. More good cells in each batch means better and steadier results when scientists move to the next step.

For people dealing with type 1 diabetes treatment every single day, this news gives real hope for change. Pancreatic beta cells that the immune system kills do not come back on their own with any current drug. A steady supply of lab-grown cells that work like real ones could change how doctors treat this disease. Improved method for creating insulin-producing cells could also help researchers working on other forms of diabetes. Scientists will keep working on the process before they try it on human patients.

The Path Toward Insulin Independence

Many researchers in this field want to help patients reach full insulin independence without daily injections. To get there, the new cells need to last a long time, read glucose levels well, and avoid immune attacks. This study shows the cells can do the first two things better than any past work has shown. The immune system question is still open and needs more work before doctors can use this in people.

An improved method for creating insulin-producing cells is a real move forward in solving that problem step by step. Karolinska Institutet and KTH have created a base that other science teams around the world can now use. For the many millions of people who manage type 1 diabetes each day, this kind of news matters a lot. Pancreatic beta cells grown in a lab now act more like real body cells than they ever did before. What comes next will show how fast this work can turn into real help for real patients.

Meta AI infrastructure to Anthropic: inside the $10 billion lease talks

The prospect of renting Meta AI infrastructure to Anthropic points to a fresh revenue line for the social media company, and it could reach anyone who uses AI tools built on that capacity. Meta and Anthropic are in early talks, a source familiar with the discussions confirmed to CNN. The New York Times reported the potential Meta-Anthropic compute deal first, pegging its value at up to $10 billion over two years and citing three people with knowledge of the talks. CNN’s source said any specific numbers already reported are speculative.

The discussions are preliminary. Reuters reported Anthropic proposed the arrangement in June, with monthly payments over two years and an early exit for either side. Nothing is signed. Terms can still change. Meta and Anthropic declined to comment.

What the deal would mean for Meta

A move to lease Meta AI infrastructure to Anthropic would open a Meta cloud computing business, a line the company has never run before. That would place it against Amazon, Microsoft and Google, the three firms that dominate cloud today. For a company whose returns come almost entirely from advertising, an AI compute lease turns idle servers into cash.

The spending backdrop explains the interest. Meta said it plans to spend between $125 billion and $145 billion this year, most of it on data center buildout. That could roughly double the prior year. Investors have pressed Meta on its AI infrastructure spending, and its shares are down more than 8% from a year ago.

Zuckerberg has hinted at this path before. At Meta’s annual shareholder meeting in May, he said outside companies approach almost every week asking to buy compute “at some premium to what we’ve bought it at.” Meta held off, he said, because it still had a use for the capacity. If it overbuilds, leasing becomes an option.

Why Anthropic wants more compute

Anthropic Claude compute demand keeps climbing, and the company cannot add capacity fast enough on its own. It already holds multibillion-dollar compute deals with Google, SpaceX, Microsoft and Amazon. Adding Meta would give it another supplier as it works to keep Claude running for a growing user base.

The setup is unusual. Meta builds its own AI models and competes with Anthropic on features. Under this arrangement, it would also become Anthropic’s supplier for computing power. The compute shortage has made that kind of rival-to-rival deal routine across the industry.

What it means for you

Here is the ripple. When an AI lab adds compute, users tend to feel it. More capacity can mean looser usage limits, faster responses and steadier access to advanced models. If the plan to rent Meta AI infrastructure to Anthropic closes, Claude users could see those gains over time. If it falls apart, the pressure on Anthropic’s capacity stays.

Meta is chasing bigger AI returns on other fronts too. Last month it released an upgraded Muse Spark model it said could rival the coding tools from OpenAI, Anthropic and others. For the first time, Meta offered a paid version, another signal it wants more money back from its AI push.

The prospect of renting Meta AI infrastructure to Anthropic sits at the center of that shift. Watch whether talk turns into a signed contract.

By Khaled Darwish
3 min read

Press Release

FAB Launches the Emirati Jaywan Debit Card Across the UAE for Daily Use

FAB launches the Emirati Jaywan Debit Card, and the country now has a homegrown card sitting inside its biggest bank. The card is live for domestic use. It runs on the UAE national card scheme, the local rails managed by Al Etihad Payments and backed by the Central Bank of the UAE. First Abu Dhabi Bank is the largest lender in the country by assets. So this reads as a real signal, not a pilot.

What the Jaywan debit card does

Here is what you get. The Jaywan debit card handles everyday payments and cash access across the UAE. Tap or dip at local merchant outlets. Online, it works on UAE-based platforms. ATMs nationwide handle cash withdrawals. The card also links to digital wallets through tokenised wallet integration, so your card details get swapped for a secure token on supported devices.

Security sits at the core. The card uses Chip and PIN for in-person buys and 3D Secure authentication online. Your four-digit PIN confirms you are the real cardholder at the till. For a domestic scheme handling millions of daily taps, this layer counts.

Why FAB launches the Emirati Jaywan Debit Card now

Timing tells the story. FAB launches the Emirati Jaywan Debit Card as the national rollout moves from plan to practice. The card is integrated with the FAB Mobile app, so you manage it where you already bank. You watch transactions, handle your account, and run digital servicing from one screen. Al Etihad Payments built Jaywan to localise card payments and cut transaction costs. Keeping this flow inside UAE borders also strengthens national data sovereignty, a point FAB made plainly.

Two names carried the message. Futoon Al Mazrouei, Group Head of Personal, Wealth and Business Banking at FAB, tied the card to trust and customer focus inside the UAE’s financial system. Andrea Ciancetti, Chief Products Officer at Al Etihad Payments, called the FAB launch “a critical milestone for the roll-out of the scheme,” and thanked the bank for making Jaywan real for people nationwide.

How to get the Jaywan debit card

Getting one is simple if you already bank with FAB. Apply through the FAB Mobile app or at a FAB branch. No account with the bank yet? Open an eligible one first, then apply. Elite and Private Banking clients can go through their relationship managers. FAB has not disclosed fees, account tiers, or rewards, so check those points before you commit.

Jaywan is bigger than one card. The scheme, launched in 2024, is the first UAE national card scheme, built to localise payments and lower costs for merchants and banks. First Abu Dhabi Bank is one of the early issuers, with other lenders lining up prepaid and debit products over the coming months. Al Etihad Payments has also signed global networks for co-badged cards, so travel use can follow the domestic base. For now, the FAB card stays inside UAE borders.

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By Fatima Al-Nouri
4 min read

ADNOC Umm Shaif Gas Cap Gets $6.2 Billion Go-Ahead for 2030 Gas Startup

The ADNOC Umm Shaif Gas Cap has moved from a plan to a funded project, with a $6.2 billion final investment decision now signed. ADNOC will develop the offshore field alongside TotalEnergies, Eni and China National Petroleum Corporation. The deal carries a headline figure of AED22.6 billion. It targets first output by 2030.

What the ADNOC Umm Shaif Gas Cap deal delivers

The development will add more than 600 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas and associated gas liquids. That equals close to 10 percent of what the UAE burns in a day right now. For a country holding the world’s seventh-largest gas reserves, the math matters. Rising UAE natural gas production feeds homes, factories, and the power-hungry data centres behind artificial intelligence growth. You can read this as a bet on demand staying strong.

The Umm Shaif Gas Cap FID sits inside a wider push. ADNOC has been expanding its liquefied natural gas reach and firming up UAE energy security at the same time. Global demand for lower-carbon gas keeps rising, which raises the stakes. Both goals point the same direction.

Who is building it and how

Contracts back up the ambition. ADNOC awarded three engineering, procurement and construction packages worth a combined $5.1 billion, or AED18.8 billion. Consortiums of UAE and international contractors won the work, which covers large-scale offshore infrastructure. A separate $365 million programme, AED1.3 billion, funds 14 wells. ADNOC Drilling will run that campaign over 18 months using three rigs it already owns. No new rigs join the field.

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO, tied the move to the company’s broader plan. “The Umm Shaif Gas Cap FID is another important milestone in delivering this strategy and reinforcing ADNOC’s position as a reliable gas supplier,” he said. Umm Shaif is Abu Dhabi’s longest-operating offshore field, so this builds on decades of work.

The field runs deep in the emirate’s history. It hosted Abu Dhabi’s first offshore well and fed the emirate’s first oil exports back in 1962. Six decades on, it now anchors a gas plan aimed at near self-sufficiency by 2030.

The bigger gas play

This Abu Dhabi offshore gas project does not stand alone. The ADNOC Umm Shaif Gas Cap follows a concession award for the Bab Gas Cap from the Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs. That field is expected to add another 1.5 billion standard cubic feet per day of gas and liquids. Stack the two, and the supply picture grows fast.

There is a trading side too. A new ADNOC LNG platform now sits in Abu Dhabi Global Market. The venture is chasing 47 million tonnes per annum of marketable LNG capacity by 2035. That scale would place it among the largest LNG traders anywhere. The ADNOC Umm Shaif Gas Cap fits neatly into that goal, feeding molecules into a growing export machine.

My read: the ADNOC Umm Shaif Gas Cap is Abu Dhabi buying insurance and market share at once. Demand for reliable, lower-carbon gas keeps climbing, and ADNOC wants to be the name buyers trust when they place long orders. The 2030 timeline gives partners room to build. Watch the drilling pace over the next 18 months for the first real signal.

By Fatima Al-Nouri
3 min read

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Improved Method for Creating Insulin-Producing Cells Changes Diabetes Care

Improved Method for Creating Insulin-Producing Cells Changes Diabetes Care

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Researchers Prove Results in Living Animals