New Pancreas in Woman’s Arm

Check out this facinating discovery from Diabetes Health:

A 55-year-old woman whose pancreas was removed due to chronic pancreatitis is not without a pancreas, thanks to the ingenuity of surgeons at the Methodist Hospital in Houston. After they removed her pancreas, they extracted its islet cells and implanted them into her left forearm, creating what they call a functioning pancreas in her arm. (Transplanted islet cells are usually injected into the liver, but in this case the patient’s liver had damage that precluded its use.) Apparently the patient is recovering handily and should be armed with insulin as soon as the transplanted cells become fully functional.

A pancreas in the arm! What will they think of next? (How about a total cure?)