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It is extremely difficult to study the exact factors leading to the onset 
and development of celiac disease in infancy and beyond, and there is 
no ethical or easy way to determine the effectiveness of any potential 
vaccine which could prevent or cure celiac disease starting in 
childhood.  If there were a mouse model that accurately and reliably
modeled the human immune response to gluten and development of
celiac disease, celiac disease research and the development of a cure
would be greatly facilitated.  Primary research could be performed
without the need to shove an endoscopic tube down a volunteer's
throat to obtain a biopsies, and the disease pathogenesis time-line
and progression would be reduced to mere weeks instead of years.

A new study has shown it is possible to establish a functional human
immune system "in immunodeficient mice through co-transplantation of
human fetal thymus/liver tissues and CD34(+) hematopoietic
stem/progenitor cells."  This approach offers the possiblity of creating
a line of celiac disease susceptable mice that can closely model human
T cell response to gluten and produce gluten and tTG antibodies
identical to human antibodies.  Great advancements in celiac disease
and other autoimmune disease research could be achieved with these
humanized mouse models.

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Blood. 2008 Feb 12 [Epub ahead of print]
Antigen specific human T cell responses and T cell-dependent
production of human antibodies in a humanized mouse model.
Tonomura N, Habiro K, Shimizu A, Sykes M, Yang YG.
Transplantation Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General
Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/blood-2007-11-121319

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