9 Aug 2022 5:45 pm
I'm not an expert of cost issues but I can add some insight into the making of insulin. Insulin is a product of the pancreas that regulates blood sugar. There are extreme deficiencies in the creation of insulin in diabetes. There are two types of diabetes. Juvenile diabetes which means that you are born without a effective pancreas to make insulin. You can also have adult diabetes which means that you had a functioning pancreas at birth but lost your ability to make insulin as an adult. This can occur for several reasons but usually occurs from an over consumption of sugar which overloads the pancreas and you lose your ability to make insulin (this is one reason you should watch your weight in order not to become obese).SJConspirator » 09 Aug 2022, 3:44 pm » wrote: ↑ you seem like an expert. How much should insulin Cost? Are diabetics getting it too Cheaply? Maybe the pharmaceutical companies are getting ripped off.
Insulin to replace natural insulin can also come in two forms. The earliest creations of insulin were harvested from cows or pigs (pigs were more common). While it was cutting edge when I was at Purdue, now most insulin is created using DNA. You have DNA that codes for insulin since its a protein. Bacteria are small single celled organisms that have DNA since they are organisms and all organisms have DNA. You simply take a bacteria's DNA, slice it and add the insulin creating DNA. Then you insert that DNA "plasmid" or circle of DNA into a bacteria. The bacteria make insulin with the added DNA and you extract the insulin as the bacteria produce it when they divide and grow in numbers during the natural biological process. The final product is "artificial" insulin that is created in a lab. Now there is no need to take it from animals as was the common practice for decades. I hope that makes sense.
Nothing is easier than defending the status quo.