Bernhard Hering, a professor of surgery with the University of Minnesota, believes he may have solved one of the major riddles in transplanting islet cells from pigs to humans -- rejection.
"The path toward transplanting non-human islet cells has been rocky," said Matt Petersen, the director of information resources with the American Diabetes Association. "Our immune system is so good at destroying anything non-human."
Based on his research, Hering said, pig islet cells aren't subject to the same type of rejection as other cells, which "puts them at a great immunological advantage compared with most other cells."
After making the discoveries, Hering decided to push toward clinical trials and eventually a cure. He and another U of M researcher contacted Tom Cartier several years ago to help develop an operation that would produce enough medical-grade pigs for testing.
"I asked, 'Why me?'" Cartier said. "I'm just a little guy out of Duluth."
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Cartier isn't the type of person you would expect to be behind such an effort. He owns Cartier Insurance, which is run out of a modest building in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. He said he met Hering after the University of Minnesota sent out information regarding the diabetes research to 20,000 alumni.
Cartier, whose son, Cory, has diabetes, said Hering was the only one who called to say: "How can I help?"
A few months later, Cartier turned over operation of his business to his family and became a full-time fundraiser and organizer for Spring Point as its chairman.
