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Originally Posted by Evermont  I wonder how far off the advance to human islets in a tube would be. |
I have no doubt that this exact same technology would work just as well if not better, with Human islet cells... the difficulty is in getting hold of enough. I understand that the current transplant protocols use 2 human pancreas each time... but the trouble is getting enough donors. Pigs would provide an ideal substitute without any such concerns. From what I also understand pigs are a pretty good human analog in terms of size, weight and layout of organs.
As for regulating the insulin, wouldn't they simply fit into the normal endocrine feedback loop that someone without diabetes has? In other words, the islet cells may produce the insulin but I assume there are other mechanisms which tell them when and how much...
