Above the fray in Washington, Harvard scientists have slowly pursued embryonic stem cell research in looking for treatments for type 1 diabetes—commonly known as juvenile diabetes— and Parkinson’s disease.

Melton has used human embryonic stem cells for years, importing cells from scientific collaborators in Israel.

But with donated embryos from Boston IVF, Melton hopes to develop new human embryonic stem cell lines.

“The specific goal is to derive generally useful lines,” Melton says, adding that he would share the cell lines with Harvard researches in other fields.

“We’re not setting this up to be a supplier [of stem cell lines to other researchers],” he says, “It might be a consequence, but it’s not a goal.”

He says his ultimate goal is to use these embryonic stem cell lines in his own research to explore possible treatments for juvenile diabetes.

Currently, juvenile diabetes patients must take daily injections of insulin,

a hormone needed for the body to

break down sugars to stay alive.

Melton will attempt to use embryonic stem cells to develop pancreatic cells that replenish insulin levels—but he says he expects only five percent of the donated embryos to yield viable embryonic stem cell lines.

The process of extracting the stem cells will take at least three months, according to Melton.

“I’d be disappointed if it took more than a year,” he says.

Parkinson’s disease researchers also see embryonic stem cells as a potential ally in their fight against the fatal and currently incurable neurological disorder.

Last month, researchers at Harvard’s McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. were able to alleviate the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in rats by coaxing implanted embryonic stem cells to become neurons that produce dopamine, an essential brain chemical.

The findings, published in the Jan. 8 issue of the Proceedings of the