Son’s diabetes diagnosis sent scientist on quest for cure
Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer Health Son’s diabetes diagnosis sent scientist on quest for cure Kermit Pattison Harvard Staff Writer June 9, 2025 8 min read Decades later, Doug Melton and team are testing treatment that could make insulin shots obsolete Doug Melton’s life irrevocably changed the day his child was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. But unlike most other parents in that situation, he was a molecular biologist uniquely positioned to do something about it. Now, more than 30 years later, Melton and his colleagues are within sight of a new treatment for Type 1 diabetes that uses stem cells to make healthy insulin-producing cells that can be transplanted into patients. Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a biomedical company headquartered in Boston, is running clinical trials on methods pioneered by Melton and his colleagues at Harvard and a startup company that he founded. “There are few things better than having an interesting science puzzle,” Melton said. “Especially one which involves educating people and...