- A genetically altered brown bovine cow recently made history by producing human insulin in its milk.
- This diabetes breakthrough could pave the way for increasing insulin production, but more research on using transgenic cows to produce human insulin is needed.
- Insulin is a crucial component of diabetes management, but it is expensive and not always accessible.
Diabetes is a condition that develops when the body cannot properly produce or use insulin, leading to an imbalance of blood sugar levels.
Many people with diabetes take insulin, which helps glucose from food enter the body’s cells and convert the glucose into energy.
In 2021,
Because the global demand for insulin is so high and insulin is expensive, it is often difficult for people to obtain the insulin they need to manage their diabetes. Researchers are exploring how to increase insulin production so that it can be more readily available to those who need it.
For the first time, scientists genetically altered a brown bovine cow in Brazil and discovered human insulin and proinsulin, an insulin precursor, in the “transgenic” cow’s milk.
The results, published March 12 in
Non-study author Brett M. Sansbury, PhD, principal investigator and leader of discovery research at ChristianaCare’s Gene Editing Institute, commented on the potential implications of this research to Medical News Today:
“Genetic engineering has so much potential for significant advancements in how we understand, diagnose and treat diseases. This study highlights the promise this field has in applications for improving human health. While the researchers here describe the…
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