Pig Research Offers hope of a cure for type 1 diabetes

Revivicor Inc (a spin off from the Scottish company that engineered Dolly the sheep), & Pittsburgh University researchers recently reported that injections of live pig pancreatic cells reversed Type 1 diabetes in monkeys.  This has lead to a lot of excitement as you can imagine, with a potential cure for Type 1 diabetes in humans.

In the past, most transplants of this type resulted in temporary relief from diabetes, but this group has one monkey that has been diabetes free for a year without injections or special diet.

It is expected that human trials could start within 2 years.

While a lot of experts would prefer human islet transplants instead of pig tissue, the shortage of human “donors” compared to the unlimited supply of pig tissue means that pig tissue has a big advantage.

Source: http://hamptonroads.com/2010/01/pig-research-gives-hope-diabetes-cure

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