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What is insulin?
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Insulin
Insulin is a hormone that regulates the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood and is required for the body to function normally.
Cell production factories
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Cell factories for insulin production
Current manufacturing technologies would be unable to meet the growing demand of affordable insulin due to limitation in production capacity and high production cost. Manufacturing of therapeutic recombinant proteins require an appropriate host organism with efficient machinery for post-translational modifications and protein refolding.
How was it made?
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How did they make insulin from recombinant DNA?
Recombinant DNA is a technology scientists developed that made it possible to insert a human gene into the genetic material of a common bacterium. This “recombinant” micro-organism could now produce the protein encoded by the human gene.
Diagram
BACTERIAL TRANSFORMATION AND HUMAN INSULIN PRODUCTION
Source: Stanley, C. (2015). Bacterial Transformation and Human Insulin Production. Retrieved March 12, 2018, from http://stanleyillustration.com/latest-work/2015/8/11/bacterial-transformation-and-human-insulin-production
Pros and cons argument
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The Pros & Cons of the Use of GMO Insulin
GMO insulin is also known as synthetic insulin, or human insulin. It is produced with genetically modified bacteria, instead of the traditional method that produces what is known as pork insulin. In this method, sometimes called natural insulin, the pancreas of a cow or pig is used to produce insulin.
