With an eye on curing diabetes, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have successfully transplanted embryonic pig pancreatic cells destined to produce insulin into diabetic macaque monkeys — all without the need for risky immune suppression drugs that prevent rejection.
Wow! Pretty darn cool. Within three weeks the transplanted “primordia” cells became embedded in three of the monkeys in which they were transferred. And the kicker… they started secreting pig insulin in response to rising blood sugars just like expected in a healthy “individual”.
The primates used in the study all had type 1 diabetes. …read more