A group of genetic scientists at the University of Technology, Sydney is looking to make the livers of diabetics take on the extra job of producing the insulin that sufferers now must inject on a daily basis.

The leader of group, Dr Ann Simpson, believes that gene therapy will see a cure for Type I, or insulin-dependent diabetes within five to 10 years.

The researchers, working in the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology of the UTS Faculty of Science, have succeeded in genetically engineering liver cells to mimic the insulin-secreting beta cells of the pancreas, which in Type I diabetics have been destroyed by a disorder of the immune system.

The technique involves implanting the human insulin gene into the genome of liver cells, giving the modified cells the ability to synthesise, process and store insulin. The eventual aim is to create a blood sugar regulation system derived from the patient's own cells that will not be subject to attack from the immune system.

"My group is the first in the world to engineer two liver cell lines to secrete insulin at very close to physiological levels," Dr Simpson said.

"Liver cells are appropriate for this task as they have the ability to synthesise and process proteins and are the only other cells in the body to have comparable glucose-sensing apparatus to the beta cells of the pancreas."

Dr Simpson said a gene therapy solution to Type I diabetes would be permanent and not subject to problems of compatibility and rejection that come with the transplantation of glands or cells from donors.

Negotiations are currently taking place with a company to prepare genetically engineered cells for possible future transplantation into diabetic patients - a stepping stone to the final goal of having the liver take on the hormone-producing role of the disabled pancreas.

"So far we have seen no evidence that having liver cells generate insulin would either affect normal liver function or result in liver cells being destroyed by the same auto-immune process that destroyed the patient's pancreatic beta cells."

Dr Simpson discussed her work as part of a Round Table on gene technology at UTS on 31 August. The forum, Gene Technology: rhetoric vs reality, brought together leading Australian scientists and high profile media representatives. The Round Table was organised by UTS with support from the CSIRO and Biotechnology Australia.