It is impressive how the field of stem cell-derived islets progressed during the past 20 years, from one of the first report (published in Science) I read on that topic in 2001, up to highly efficient very recent protocols. Such impressive progress was made possible (at least in part) by impressive amounts of knowledge produced by development biologists that developed original models and studied pancreas development.

During my presentation, I will argue on the fact that more can be learned from innovative experimental models, to further improve the development of functional islets derived from stem cells.