有一項令人印象深刻的成就，可能改善1型糖尿病治療的預后，日本東京大學醫院的一個外科小組從一位婦女采集胰島細胞移植到她患糖尿病的女兒體內，移植后數分鐘內胰島細胞即開始產生胰島素。

以前，外科醫生切下母親患者的部分胰腺，是第一例從活體供體采集進行的胰島細胞移植。一個參加手術的醫生是Alberta大學的James Shapiro醫生。Shapiro醫生幫助制定了Edmonton方案，這是從1999年開始在72例加拿大人開展的手術方案。在這個程序中，胰島細胞都采自同一供體（尸體）胰腺，移植到了1型糖尿病患者體內。這個方法的一個缺點是大量患者必須等待合適供體達2年甚至更久。使用活體供體進行胰島移植將使得更多的患者能夠進行。

Shapiro醫生說，只有10％的1型糖尿病患者適合進行胰島細胞移植。大約500例糖尿病患者在過去5年中接受了根據Edmonton方案進行的胰島細胞移植手術，這些患者接受的胰島細胞均來自尸體。這些受體都必須在其余生中使用免疫移植避免排異反應。

Using Live Donor Cells to Treat Diabetes
 
In an impressive achievement that may result in a better way to treat type 1 diabetes, a surgical team at Kyoto University Hospital (Japan) has taken islet cells from a woman and transplanted them in her diabetic daughter, where the cells started to produce insulin within minutes.

Previously, the surgeons removed a portion of the mother’s pancreas, permitting them to perform the first islet cell transplant from a living donor. One of the participating surgeons was Dr. James Shapiro, of the University of Alberta (Canada). Dr. Shapiro helped develop the Edmonton Protocol, a procedure that has been performed on 72 Canadians since 1999. In this procedure, islet cells are taken from a donor (cadaver) pancreas and transplanted in patients with type 1 diabetes. One drawback with this method is that many of the patients have to wait as long as two years or more for a donor that is suitable. Islet transplants from living donors would allow more patients to get transplants.

According to Dr. Shapiro, only about 10% of people with type 1 diabetes might be candidates for islet cell transplants. Around 500 diabetic patients have received islet cell transplants in the last five years under the Edmonton Protocol, in which the transplants were taken from cadavers. These recipients must take immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of their lives to avoid rejection.