Is this procedure 7aram?

Is this 7aram? I honestly would like to know whether a Muslim, or Jewish person is allowed to do this… please read on

Michael Helyer is a diabetic with a difference. Ten years ago he was implanted with pancreatic cells from pigs in the hope that they would restore his insulin production, so helping to control his blood glucose levels. Now, to the surprise of researchers who carried out the trial, not only are those pig cells still alive, but a few continue to produce insulin…

In 1996, LCT injected 1.3 million capsules of alginate, a resin derived from seaweed, into Helyer's peritoneal cavity. Each capsule contained about 500 insulin-producing islet cells isolated from the pancreases of newly born piglets. "The alginate lets insulin out of the capsule and nutrients in, to keep the cells alive," explains Elliott. Importantly, it also hides the "alien" pig cells from the human immune system. [source]

Now that’s a clever idea!

There are two questions that I have about this. First, would religions which prohibit the consumption of pig meat, also prohibit having pig cell transplants? If they do, then why do they allow transplantation of human cells? Wouldn’t that qualify as cannibalism then?

The other question is to the biologically literate. Why were pig cells chosen? Are they closer to human cells than, say, cow cells? Or do pigs have a pancreas that closely resembles humans’?

I’m really curious, so if you know the answers, or would like to hypothesize, then by all means…

Update:

Thanks to Andre I have an answer on why pigs are chosen as donors:

"For pancreas transplants, other animals can be used as well, but pigs have been preferred for purely technical reasons, so nothing to do with similarity with humans in the pancreas case."

see the comments section for the rest of his informative comment

And Dalia turned my attention to this, regarding whether Islam prohibits such a transplant:

"the fatwa issued by the eminent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, who states:

"Basically, transplanting an organ from an impure animal such as a pig to a human body must not be resorted to save in case of necessity. It should be considered that what is rendered permissible due to necessity should be estimated only according to what alleviates the hardship in every case. Also, this should be estimated by reliable and trustworthy Muslim physicians."

technorati tags: diabetic, diabetes, pancreas, pig, muslim, jewish, transplant, medicine