They're not ready to try this with people yet.But researchers at the University of Minnesota announced that they were able
to reverse diabetes in
monkeys by transplanting insulin-producing cells from pigs.
Some are calling it a milestone that could eventually transform the lives of millions of people. If the
research pans out, it could provide an endless supply of healthy cells to replace the ones that don't work in diabetics.
I would say it's one of the more promising things on the horizon, said Dr Brian Flanagan of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in New York City.
The latest study involved only a dozen monkeys. But it showed Proof of principle that pig cells can cure animals that are One step away from humans, said Bernhard Hering, who led the research as director of the Islet Transplant Program at the University of Minnesota.