Please help...Porcine pancreas

[tina]

What is it and what does it do??

[canalon]

The Pancreas of a pig, look on internet for the role of pancreas....

[thank.darwin]

Are you sure that it is the Pancreas of a pig...? Can anyone confirm that?

[mith]

I think porcine means pig. Puerco means pig in spanish

[tina]

Yes, it is the pancreas of a pig....but i was wondering what its purpose in Biology was, i have read some stuff on the internet about it being used for insulin....

[canalon]

I try my best to answer this, but I am not native english speaker, so I do not know the exact words.
The pancreas is both an exocrine and endocrine gland
- exocrine gland: produce something which is excreted out of the body, in this case the digestive tract. The pancreatic fluid main purpose is to increase pH of the stuff coming out of the stomach

-endocrine gland: produce chemicals excreted inside the body, the blood system. In fact 2 hormones are produced in the pancreas insulin (lower the glucose level in blood) and glucagon (increase blood level in blood).

That is a good start for your research.

HTH

Patrick

[DevGrp]

Injectable pig insulin has been used by diabetics since the 1940s. Since 1986 it has been replaced by human recombinant insulin (produced in E.coli). I think some people still use pig insulin but I’m not certain

There is also some research into transferring Pig embryonic insulin cells / adult pancreatic cells into people as a potential cure for diabetes. This could be an alternative to using human embryonic stem cells. BUT Zenotransplantation carries its own risks. Who knows what retroviruses pigs carry and what effects they could have if introduced into immuno-suppressed humans.

[mith]

An increased hankering for truffles?

[joepizarro]

Pancreatin is an enzyme derived from the Pancrease of the Porcine (Pig), they are used in medicine as well as natural supplements, Pancreatic enzymes work really well for inflamation, pain, scarring, etc. one blend of these enzymes is Zymactive by Natural Factors.

[kotoreru]

An increased hankering for truffles?

LOL

Also, it is spelt 'Xenotransplantation'. Sorry to be so anally retentive

[Darby]

Is it intentional irony to correct spelling and misspell "spelled" while doing it?

[mith]

Actually it is acceptable in UK. I ran into the same problem using learnt, and aluminium when I moved from one of the Commonwealth to the States.