Cheaper Insulin on the Horizon?

[Tuckerfan]

GM plants to make insulin.

Insulin produced by genetically modified plants - with a human gene added - could be on the market in three years, a Canadian company has claimed.

Sembiosys said it has made scientific breakthroughs and found a short cut through current drug regulations.

The firm’s CEO Andrew Baum said his company could become one of the first to sell a plant-based pharmaceutical.

Mr Baum said that one large North American farm growing his safflower could meet the global demand for insulin - and that the price of the drug could be cut significantly.

If the firm can demonstrate that the plant-based insulin is identical with human insulin, it won’t have to go through all the long and costly stages of full clinical trials.

The article doesn’t say anything about how they get the insulin out of the plants, which is what I’m curious about. Also, what happens if the GM plants get mixed in with non-GM plants and made into safflower oil?

[Lynn_Bodoni]

I have read that insulin cannot withstand stomach acids, which is why it must be injected rather than be available as a pill or liquid.

Most insulin is now produced by genetically modified bacteria, inside sealed tanks. The new technique uses GM plants grown out in the open.

I take this sort of insulin, and while it’s not extraordinarily expensive, it ain’t cheap, either.

I’m eagerly awaiting the day when I can get my dose by inhaling it or applying a patch. I’m tired of stabbing myself twice a day.

[Garfield226]

I was confused at first wondering WHY, exactly, General Motors factories (you know…GM plants…) were going to produce insulin. A beneficial byproduct perhaps? :smack:

[The_Mad_Hermit]

It’s too bad they can’t (or are prevented from) engineering a replacement in the body for insulin production.

[TroubleAgain]

@Garfield226

I was confused at first wondering WHY, exactly, General Motors factories (you know…GM plants…) were going to produce insulin. A beneficial byproduct perhaps? :smack:

I was wondering if that’s what they were going to do to keep from going under. :smack: