Tobacco can be genetically modified to treat diabetes in young people, Italian researchers believe.
A team from the University of Verona has extracted a molecule from genetically modified (GM) tobacco and is testing it on mice in which juvenile diabetes has been induced.
Using GM tobacco to obtain the molecule is "100 times cheaper" than producing it in the laboratory, researcher Linda Avesani said.
Tobacco is much safer than other plants from which the drug can be created because it poses little or no risk of contaminating the food chain, she added.
Preliminary results are expected shortly from the mice tests and researchers are confident they will go well, enabling the Verona team to move towards clinical testing in humans, Avesani said.
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic condition caused by the body's inability to break down a sugar called glucose.
When this happens, glucose backs up in the person's bloodstream and creates multiple health problems.
It is estimated that over 1.2 million individuals worldwide have diabetes - and five million more have diabetes that has yet to be diagnosed.
Juvenile diabetes, also known as type 1 diabetes, is one of two types of the disease.
Children diagnosed with juvenile diabetes need shots of insulin, the hormone that enables our body to convert the food we eat into energy.
Type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, typically occurs in adults who are over the age of 40, overweight, sedentary, and have a family history of diabetes.
Many adults with type 2 diabetes don't need daily insulin shots.
Instead, a healthy diet and exercise can usually control the condition.
