KIDSAC, which stands for Kids who are Insulin Dependent Searching for a Cure, has been backed by medical company Bayer Diagnostics.

BBC: Teddy helps children face the needle

The BDA's caution was echoed by Dr Matthew Kiln, a south London GP and joint chairman of the Insulin Dependent Diabetes Trust.

BBC: Lab mice

Upwards of 1 million persons in the U.S. have type 1 diabetes, also known as insulin-dependent or juvenile-onset diabetes.

FORBES: Eye On The Prize

David Phillips and his colleagues at the University of Southampton, in England, show that childhood infections reduce the probability of acquiring insulin-dependent diabetes.

ECONOMIST: Plagued by cures