There has been worldwide interest in taking part in an Auckland study for patients with Type 1 diabetes.
More than 300 people have applied to take part in the study, which transplants pig cells to humans, being carried out at Middlemore Hospital in South Auckland, and run by the Centre for Clinical Research.
The centre's director, John Baker, says because of the demands of the study it is limited to people from New Zealand and only eight will be chosen.
At this stage the team is just testing the safety of the experimental treatment. Dr Baker says the risk of such a study is the potential for infection from animal tissue.
