An up-to-date synthesis of pancreatic islet allotransplantation is included in this summary, with emphasis on new developments and clinical results of the field. Rationale for islet transplantation in type 1 diabetes mellitus, current patient selection criteria, clinical data, technical aspects of organ procurement, islet isolation and transplantation are highlighted. The current challenges are also presented and analysed. Significant advances in clinical islet transplantation have been achieved recently. New immunosuppressive strategies were introduced, there were considerable changes in the patient selection criteria. International collaborations were established in order to standardize islet isolation and transplantation procedures. The spectacular results, recently reported by the Edmonton-group, represent a major breakthrough of the field and the outcomes are comparable with the results of whole pancreas transplantation. Islet transplantation became one of the most promising fields of tolerance induction research. Although still considered experimental, within the frameworks of expanding international collaborations, pancreatic islet allotransplantation gains more and more recognition in the clinical practice. These elements give hope that diabetes might be in the near future treated by islet cell transplantation.