Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic autoimmune disease that results from the destruction of beta (β) cells in the pancreatic islets, leading to loss of insulin production and resultant hyperglycemia. Recent developments in stem cell biology have generated much excitement for β-cell replacement strategies; β cells are one of many cell types in the complex islet environment and pancreas. In this Opinion, we discuss recent successful attempts to generate β cells and how this can be coupled with bioprinting technologies in order to fabricate pancreas tissues, which holds great potential for type 1 diabetes. Possibilities of integrating vascularization and encapsulation in bioprinted tissues are expounded, and future prospects, such as pancreas-on-a-chip, are also presented.

1型糖尿病是一种慢性自身免疫性疾病，由胰腺胰岛中的β（β）细胞破坏引起，导致胰岛素产生损失和高血糖症。干细胞生物学的最新进展为β细胞替代策略引起了极大的兴趣。β细胞是复杂的胰岛环境和胰腺中许多细胞类型之一。在这份意见书中，我们讨论了最近成功产生β细胞的尝试，以及如何将其与生物打印技术结合以制造胰腺组织，胰腺组织具有治疗1型糖尿病的巨大潜力。阐述了在生物打印组织中整合血管化和封装的可能性，并且还提出了诸如片上胰腺的未来前景。