According to scientists, within a decade, insulin producing cells taken from pigs and transplanted in humans will be able to cure diabetes.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota were able to reverse the disease from which suffered several monkeys by transplanting islet cells from pigs. The transplant aims to replace the cells which normally produce insulin in the pancreas but which, in diabetes cases, lack or are scarce.
Even if more thorough
research is required before initiating pig-to-human transplants, the results are encouraging for an organization which set off to build farms which will raise very healthy pigs, eventually used for different transplants. Spring Point Project collected so far $4 million of the $20 million it needs and will soon start a fundraising campaign.
The project spent $1 million to build two farms, one in Wisconsin and one in Dakota, in order to raise pigs and support the clinical trials.
Lead investigator Bernhard Hering declared: "These results suggest it is feasible to use pig islet cells as a path to a far-reaching cure for diabetes. Now that we have identified critical pathways involved in immune recognition and rejection of pig islet transplants, we can begin working on better and safer therapies with the eventual goal of bringing the treatment into people."
About 20 million Americans suffer from diabetes, the illness being a lead cause for death, blindness and amputations. Bio-secure laboratories are currently being built for safe animal tissue; pigs' organs have shown so far positive results in heart and Parkinson diseases.
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