Insulin-producing islet cells from the pancreases of newborn pigs successfully reversed type 1 diabetes in primates, paving the way for human clinical trials, according to scientists involved in the research.

The findings from two new studies, one at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and the second at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, mean transplants using piglet cells could ultimately be used to treat diabetes, after three years of successful experiments in monkeys, the researchers reported in the journal Nature Medicine.

Both studies examined the potential of transplanting islet cells from newborn piglets in diabetic rhesus macaque monkeys. In the Canadian study, the transplanted cells worked so well that the four monkeys involved were able to stop needing insulin injections, one for almost a year. The University of Minnesota researchers achieved similar results.