Clean Pigs Offer Alternative to Stem Cell Transplants

摘要

They may be the cleanest pigs on Earth. About 100 swine at the University of Minnesota's Schulze Diabetes Institute in Minneapolis constitute the first herd in the country specially bred to supply insulin-secreting pancreatic islets for people with diabetes.rnA scientific team led by surgeon and endocrinologist Bernhard Hering hopes to start clinical trials using these cells within a couple of years. But in addition to immuno-logical challenges, they face the difficulties of gaining U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for grafting living animal tissues into humans (as opposed to mechanical aids such as cartilage) as well as overcoming public aversion to the idea.