Pig cells wrapped in seaweed will be implanted into diabetes patients
Posted 12.16.2010 at 2:57 pm
10 Comments
No More Needles
Russia has approved a xenotransplantation treatment that inserts insulin-producing pig cells into the human pancreas, reducing the need for insulin injections in type 1 diabetes patients.
Electorn via Wikimedia
Russian authorities have approved the first xenotransplantation treatment – the implanting of animal cells into the human body – for sale in that country, marking the first time such a treatment has been appoved anywhere. The type 1 diabetes treatment involves inserting insulin-producing pig cells coated in seaweed into the human pancreas to replace native cells that have been depleted there.
Type 1 diabetes occurs when insulin-producing cells in the pancreas are destroyed. As such, people suffering from the condition must inject insulin into their bloodstreams to regulate their glucose levels, but doing so can cause swings in blood sugar that can lead to other complications. The Russian treatment replaces the missing cells with pig cells that produce insulin inside the body, reducing the need for injections. The seaweed coating keeps the bodies immune system from attacking the foreign animal cells.
Though approved in Russia, the treatment was developed by Living Cell Technologies in New Zealand. In Russian trials, the treatment fared fairly well, exhibiting improvement in six of eight diabetes patients who were then able to reduce their daily insulin injections. Two of them were able to cease injections entirely.
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So it's pig sushi?
How long do the swine cells survive in the host patient? Do they continuously divide and replicate? Must new injections occur to "restock" the cells in the patient?
How do the cells survive in the patient? Will they absorb oxygen and nutrients like the human cells next to them? How do they bind to pancreas?
How does the seaweed protect these cells from being attacked and evacuated by the immune system?
Some more details would be great.
This sounds like the basis for a delightful hors d'ouevre: bacon-wrapped-seaweed-wrapped pig cells. Mmmmm!
www.jaredstuff.com
Human transplant of pigs lungs is next step, genetically they are of similar biological functions. See here.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7148417/Pig-lungs-in-human-transplants-move-step-closer.html
Reminds me of the old Boris Karloff or Alfred Hitchcock short film about an old women turning men into pigs.
Ron Bennett
And Russia, American President Bush said that nothing ever good comes from your country. I guess you proved him wrong.
Like anything good ever came out of Bush's mouth or mind...
Oh no they are gunna create "Man Bear Pig"!
In Soviet Russia, pork *good* for health.
Certainly not the first xenotransplantation ever done, but it may be the first one approved for use in mainstream medical centers (in Russia).
is it kosher and halal?
don't believe e writing u read the truth story click away or the half of story