Rebooting the Body: Anti-CD3 in Popular Science

I just had a feature published in Popular Science that I think might be of interest to others with Type 1. As I’ve mentioned previously on this blog, right after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 9 years ago, I enrolled in a trial for a new drug called an anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody (best known as teplizumab and being studied in a trial called Protege that is currently recruiting recently diagnosed diabetics to participate). The drug’s goal: to “reprogram” my immune system into not killing off insulin-producing cells, thus prolonging the honeymoon period and likely making  blood sugars easier to control. The result of my experience? I got the drug nearly a decade ago and I’m still making a measurable — if marginal — amount of insulin. I’m by no means cured, but damn, am I grateful to have given the drug a try.

For all my positive experience with the trial, though, I’ll admit that I never got much beyond learning how to pronounce “anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody” (try saying that three times fast). What is it? How do researchers think it might work? What effects might it have on auto-immune diseases beyond just Type 1 diabetes?

I recently got the chance not just to learn about this myself, but to write about it for Popular Science — and the result, a feature called “Rebooting the Body,” is in this month’s (March’s) issue, on newsstands now. Here’s a link to a digital copy (a revised one, which should work) — though please consider picking up a hard copy to support them for running it! I wanted to give a heads-up that it might be of interest not just to people who have been recently diagnosed (if you have, you should definitely look up the ongoing trials) but to anyone with a family history of Type 1: Kevan Herold at Yale is heading a new round of trials to see if the drug might be actually able to *prevent* Type 1 in people who have a high risk of getting it. There are tests available to get a sense of your chances.

And also: as you may already know, one of the main issues in transplanting insulin-producing cells — whether they be from stem cells, pig cells, flowers, or anything else — is figuring out how to prevent the same part of your immune system that caused Type 1 in the first place from killing off those cells again. Anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies might be a solution to this problem — if you combine a new source of insulin-producing cells with a means to protect them, well, you’re getting yourself closer to a cure.

Anyway, if you have access to a paper copy, check it out — if not, I’ll try to post a digital version here.

On a less inspirational note: this morning, I dropped my pump into the toilet.

Catherine Price

Catherine Price (www.catherine-price.com) was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. She has written for publications including The Best American Science Catherine Price is a professional journalist who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. Her work has been featured in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Health Magazine, The Oprah Magazine, and Outside, among others. A graduate of Yale and UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism

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Catherine Price

Catherine Price was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. She has written for publications including The Best American Science Catherine Price is a professional journalist who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. Her work has been featured in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Health Magazine, The Oprah Magazine, and Outside, among others. A graduate of Yale and UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism