The Human Trial

source: The Human Trial

I've been type 1 Diabetic since I was 2 years old. I am about to turn 49. The documentary is very well done, the 93 minutes flew by, I was engaged the whole time, and left me wanting more. Seeing Lisa at the very beginning open Loop/FreeAPS on her iPhone, lets those that know: This is going to be good. "We are not waiting". I understand that the point of this documentary, and even the name of it, is about following 2 people through a human trial, the researchers that are trying to cure the disease, the hope of fellow suffers of the disease, and ultimately, a cure from this human trial. However. I just feel disappointed. The ultimate question is: "Where are we with a cure for diabetes". Viacyte or not. This human trial, or others. I am not sure how or why Brian Shelton wasn't interviewed or mentioned in this. I am not sure why it wasn't mentioned at all that Viacyte was bought out by Vertex, other than maybe that news came later than the final edit of this film, but still could have somehow had a mention on an end screen. We are farther ahead in curing Type 1 Diabetes than the ending of this documentary would suggest. I get why Viacyte was the sole focus, but there are so many more equally, if not better than, promising leads from other biotech companies as well. To name just a few off the top of my head, Itolerance, Sernova, and especially Vertex: who had the first in human, lab grown, can be mass produced, islet cells, put into Brian Shelton, and worked at a <50% dose. How could this be ignored? I guess the answer is, it falls out of the 2 people that were followed for this trial... idk, the real point in my humble opinion, is where are we with a cure, and the documentary falls short of this. Again, the documentary is very good, and worth watching. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes of the medical journal articles, and headlines, that is shown here, and appreciated. It's also very easy to be a couch critic. The making of this film is top notch. The editing was spot on. It's just all around very well done following all sides of a human trial, like the title suggests; my only complaint is it's not up to date enough on where we are with a cure. Brionh at brionh com.

Trailer—The Human Trial