As many as 50 centres around the world will be running clinical trials in islet cell transplantation for type 1 diabetes mellitus by the end of the year, according to Dr James Shapiro, the researcher whose team seems to have finally succeeded in transforming this concept from elegant theory into practice. Dr Shapiro, from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, presented his current results at the British Transplantation Society's annual meeting [Oxford, UK; March 2001]. So far, the group has treated 15 patients with type 1 diabetes, none of whom now require insulin on a regular basis.