Isolation and transplantation of islet tissue

Recently, there have been remarkable advances in the area of islet tissue isolation and immuno‐alteration that place islet tissue transplantation on the verge of clinical trials. This paper reviews the islet isolation advances by focusing on 5 approaches: altering the pancreas in vivo, distending and/or perfusing the pancreas in vitro, chopping the pan‐creas, isolating either intact islets or islet cells, and purifying the islet tissue. This review also focuses on 3 areas of islet tissue transplantation: islet tissue preparation, transplantation sites, and the prevention of rejection. Advances in these areas should solve the remaining technical problems currently preventing clinical trials.