Talking to 5 News About Type 1

Too many numbers for one title there…

1.30pm, 5pm and 6.30pm I got many texts, tweets and unflattering screen grabs of my face on the telly box. Not only Channel 5 felt the desire to show my mug, but ITV News too.

The potentially life-changing breakthrough in the quest for a type 1 cure was widely documented yesterday. At first glance of the headline I took it with a pinch of salt – we’ve been ‘close’ to a cure for many decades now, and as great as it is that so much funding and attention is focussed on working towards a cure for type 1, I’ve certainly never really believed it would be available for the next generation or so of diabetics. But upon further digging of news like this, I think such a viewpoint is entirely wrong, ignorant and naive – millions of pounds and decades of professional lives are focussed on curing this thing, every day, and thus immeasurably changing the lives of future generations of type 1s, so that they won’t ever have to deal with this thing. I’m sure that insulin production was ‘close’ but ultimately out of reach for a very long time; if scientists had given up on that, none of us would be here now.

This news in particular has been hailed as ‘as significant as antibiotics’. No pressure there guys!

What I love most about this story is that Doug Melton, the genius behind this breakthrough, in which he has successfully transformed stem cells into insulin-secreting beta cells, has been working on this for over two decades for LOVE. He was originally focussed on frog developmental biology, and switched to humans when his son and daughter were both diagnosed with type 1.

Imagine that? ‘Don’t worry son, I’ll sort this for you’.

And it seems he very nearly has. What an incredible story, borne from the intangible and emotional love for your children, facilitated by something as sound as concrete as science.

Here’s me (briefly) waffling on about life with type 1 for 5 News. I was also on an ITV piece alongside Amelia Lily (who quite rightly told us proudly that type 1’s are something special), and I also did a bit on Radio 4 last night. This piece is particularly interesting because we hear from one of the scientists involved.

YES for team type 1! And YES for that almost very nearly cure…