Diabetes is characterized by issues with insulin, the hormone that regulates blood glucose levels and allows the body's cells to access it for energy. In type 1 diabetes, beta cells in the pancreas that normally produce insulin can't make enough to meet demand, often because those cells have been destroyed by the immune system.

Treatment currently relies on administering insulin shots, but an emerging branch of study centers on finding ways to replenish the insulin production of those beta cells. Previous breakthroughs have included creating artificial beta cells that can pick up the slack, or using stem cells to grow new ones.

In the new study, researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden examined a small molecule that may help regenerate beta cells. The molecule, known as CID661578, was identified in previous work, but how exactly it worked and to what extent remained unknown.