Pig cell treatment for diabetes

Following a ten-year ban in New Zealand, pig-cell transplants for people with diabetes are one step closer following a shift in policy by the New Zealand regulatory board, MedSafe.
Pig-cell transplants for diabetics were banned following concerns over the transfer of diseases between animals and humans. MedSafe gave a biotech company called Living Cell Technologies a licence, with which it can manufacture animal cell products for humans.
It will be the first time Living Cell have climbed the road toward human trials since 1996, when they were forced to halt their ground-breaking trials. Once the company receives something called an ethics approval, they can begin to proceed towards clinical trial stage. The company transplants neonatal pig cells into humans, in a treatment known as DiabeCell.
MedSafe are the New Zealand equivalent of the American Food and Drug Administration .