Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease(自己免疫疾患)in which the body’s own cells mistakenly attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Insulin is a hormone crucial to the process of converting sugar to energy. Patients who suffer from this form of diabetes must rely on regular insulin injections in order to survive, but researchers are looking for a new way to treat diabetes, and their approach involves attacking the disease at its root. They are working to create a vaccine that will selectively shut down the immune system cells attacking the pancreas, thereby preventing the damage that necessitates later insulin injections.