People are literally dying because of the cost of insulin, but sure let’s find a “one day maybe” R&D project instead.

Every example I'd seen publicized of someone who "can't afford insulin because it costs $300/bottle, so they died" has been a blatant lie. Every single one of them, without exception, could have switched to L/R/N, which are on the order of $25 per bottle. Are they as good? No, certainly not. But they do work, and they are certainly better than dying. Heck, you don't even need a prescription for them.

Don't get me wrong; insulin prices are out of control, and something should be done. But these stories about people dying because they couldn't afford $300 for a vial of insulin are misinformation; and propagating them weakens the argument to get insulin prices reduced; because it gives people a factually correct way to push back against it (what with it being factually incorrect and all). Please don't spread those stories.

Side note: People will comment about how awful R/N/L are, and say you'll always feel sick, etc. I was on R/L for on the order of a decade. It's annoying because it's effectiveness curve (of the R) means you need to take it 20 minutes (give or take; it's been a while) in advance of eating.. and if you wind up not being hungry, you have to eat anyways. But they are plenty effective for controlling blood sugar.

It's not easy to do gene therapy? All the editing systems, have off targets that are yet to be studied.

Even then, let's say that they work, what about cases like gestational diabetes? Are you going to do gene therapy on a pregnant person to resolve diabetes that tends to normally vanish off once the baby is born? What about the impact on the baby?

Not a critical point here, but typically gestational diabetes is treated with diet, exercise, and drugs like metformin. The same for type 2 diabetes. It’s best to avoid using insulin when possible because insulin dosing is fairly high risk. People who require treatment with insulin mostly have type 1, and there’s currently no other option.

How does your proposal help someone who’s has to go over to Walgreens to pickup insulin today?