Science, medicine, and the future: Islet and stem cell transplantation for treating diabetes

Abstract
Methods Our article is based on information from the following core references: the international islet transplant registry; recently published articles describing improvements in islet cell transplantation, reporting treatment of diabetes in animal models with islet cells grown in vitro, and describing novel molecular mechanisms in pancreatic endocrine development (including our own recent work); papers in embryonic and adult stem cell research that have had a major influence on our thinking; and the seminal work from the Roslin Institute and other groups on nuclear transfer. Footnotes Competing interests The authors are employed by and have financial interests in Novo Nordisk A/S, which manufactures insulin.