New Research Shows Light Could Replace Insulin Shots

Scientists Xin Deng, Dandan Peng, and their team looked at optogenetics—using light to control cells—as a fresh way to help with diabetes. It’s all about making cells do the right thing with a flash of light!

For type 1 diabetes (where your body doesn’t make insulin), they tweaked special pancreas cells with light-sensitive proteins like ChR2 or bPAC. Shine blue light, and these cells release insulin fast—tests in mice showed better blood sugar control. For type 2 (where insulin doesn’t work well), they used other cells (like HEK-293) with tools like REDMAP or melanopsin to make insulin or GLP-1 (a sugar-lowering helper) when hit with red or blue light. This helped mice handle sugar better without needing donor cells. They also used light to fix insulin resistance—like making liver cells or fat tissue respond better to insulin again. Plus, they zapped brain or nerve cells with light to boost insulin or burn fat, keeping sugar levels steady.

How do they get it in? They wrap cells in gel-like shields to hide from the immune system, but keeping them alive long-term is tricky. Smart gadgets—like tiny LEDs or even smartphone lights—turn these cells on when sugar’s high. Problems? Light doesn’t reach deep inside easily, and they’re still figuring out safe ways to add these light-triggered genes. It’s early, but it works for things like vision in clinics, so diabetes could be next!