Professor Anderson says there are at least two companies trying different strategies to encapsulate cells in a similar way to the way a tea bag surrounds tea leaves. The US federal government has given companies approval to begin patient trials starting later this year. [5] Protecting beta cells from the immune system would greatly speed up the availability of treatment for patients with type 1 diabetes and would also eliminate the need for patients to have regular top-ups of beta cells in the pancreas. Making this treatment a treatment with no need for subsequent follow-ups, meaning it is essentially a cure.