Researchers in Brazil have discovered a possible method for producing human insulin, which might reduce insulin scarcity and make it more affordable—a major advance in the treatment of diabetes.
In an effort to increase the availability and affordability of insulin, researchers genetically altered a cow to manufacture human insulin in her milk, according to the New York Post.
The study’s primary author, an animal sciences professor at the University of Illinois, declared after a groundbreaking development in medicine: “Mother Nature created the mammary gland as a factory to generate protein very, really effectively.
“We can take advantage of that system to produce a protein that can help hundreds of millions of people worldwide.”
The work, which was published in the Biotechnology Journal, integrated a proinsulin-producing portion of human DNA into the embryos of cows using genetic engineering methods.
A technique that guarantees the human precursor to insulin is solely active in the mammary tissues of cows has been successfully created by researchers from the Universidade de São Paulo and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
A “magical” discovery was made when they realized that the genetically altered cow produced milk that contained both proinsulin and insulin.
Furthermore, the cow’s ability to create and purify insulin was demonstrated by the way its mammary glands converted the proinsulin into active insulin on their own.
“To produce proinsulin, separate it into insulin, and proceed from there was our aim. However, the cow handled it all by herself. According to Wheeler, she produces proinsulin around three to one physiologically active insulin to one.
In order to produce more insulin than is now produced, researchers hope to breed a herd of transgenic cows that won’t require sophisticated infrastructure.
Wheeler said that the objective is to optimize the milk and re-clone the lactation process in order to generate one gramme of insulin per liter of milk—a very impressive yield.
Cow’s milk supplements the diet with calcium, but it might not be the greatest option for those who have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, according to Medical News Today.
The issue may be resolved, though, by using milk from a genetically altered cow that generates insulin in its milk.
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