It is hoped the work will one day allow the use of a diabetes patient's own liver cells to treat their condition.
According to BBC News, recent developments have made it possible to transplant donor insulin-producing cells into diabetes patients to treat the condition.
However, there is a severe shortage of donor tissue, and patients who do undergo surgery must take powerful drugs for the rest of their lives in order to prevent the new cells being rejected.
Dr Angela Wilson, research director at the charity Diabetes UK, said, "Shortage of donor pancreases and the need to take anti-rejection drugs for life are two major problems currently limiting pancreatic islet cell transplantation as a treatment for diabetes.
This research is potentially very exciting. It could eventually lead to therapies that allow individuals with diabetes to be the donors of their own insulin-producing tissue. However, it is very early days and we await the next stage with interest."
