# A teenager is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Their pancreas no longer produces insulin. Scientists are investigating whether stem cells could be used to grow new insulin-producing cells for this patient. Explain how stem cells could be used to treat this patient, and why this treatment might be difficult to carry out.

> OCR A-Level Biology B — Advancing Biology (H422) — 3.1 Cell division and stem cells · Explain · 5 marks

> Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Without insulin, blood glucose levels cannot be controlled, which can be life-threatening.

## Mark scheme (5 marks)

1. Stem cells are unspecialised / undifferentiated cells that can divide to produce many different cell types
2. Stem cells can be made to differentiate into insulin-producing cells (beta cells / pancreatic cells)
3. These new cells could then be transplanted into the patient's pancreas to restore insulin production / control blood glucose levels
4. One difficulty is that the patient's immune system may reject the transplanted cells
5. Another difficulty is the ethical issues surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells / difficulty obtaining sufficient stem cells

## Key terms

- [stem cells](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/glossary/stem-cells)
- [insulin](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/glossary/insulin)

## Related

- [Revision notes for OCR A-Level Biology B — Advancing Biology (H422)](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/learn)
- [How to answer "Explain" questions](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/tools/command-word-cheatsheet)
- [Practice this with AI marking (free)](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/start)

---
Source: [GradeNine](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/q/a-teenager-is-diagnosed-with-type-60ba1984) · Published by Druglandscape Ltd.