Type I Diabetes CURED (In mice)
Scott Benner
Dear Scientists,
I know that it must be difficult to find research money for your study and I understand that you are under pressure to generate excitement about your work.
I'm also extremely grateful to anyone who is trying to find a cure for type I diabetes. I don't want you to stop looking or collecting grants and donors, but I do need you to do one small favor for me, well, actually for everyone who is touched by type I diabetes.
STOP publishing your "exciting" news about curing lab mice!
You see, when I open my laptop and read your story about how you coaxed a cell into producing insulin, I shrug and go about my business because my daughter has been living with diabetes for a very long time and I've seen a thousand articles just like yours. I know not to get excited - I know that you're fishing for donors. I understand that you are trying to justify the space that you take up in some lab. I get what the price of doing business is, I empathize.
But how about having some compassion for the countless families who are new to type I diabetes, maybe you shouldn't be getting their hopes up just to break their hearts all over again. Maybe, you should just shut up until you figure out a way to help a person. These stories hurt people. Parents, adults, friends and family. People are crushed when you lift them so high, only to drop them down onto their reality. The next time I hear you talk about a mouse, it better be because you figured out how to use that "cure" you found in a person. We have feelings, consider them.
