Abstract
Medical history is replete with sagas of scientists who doggedly pursue dreams of better ways to treat disease. In these tales, somewhere on the road between the first success and the maturation of an important new therapy, enthusiasts' smiles broaden and skeptics' frowns deepen. It is then that the question is asked: Is this the dawn of a new treatment era, or are we still dreaming?Separating fact from fantasy is central to answering this question. In the case of pancreatic islet transplantation as a treatment for diabetes mellitus, the facts are clear. This procedure first gained attention in the . . .