Today, millions of people suffer from some type of diabetes and are treated with insulin, but due to the large number of patients, there is often a shortage of medications, but this may change in the future, as they have created a genetically modified brown cow that not only produces milk, but It also produces human insulin.
Between the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Sao Paulo cooperation Thanks to this, a portion of human DNA encoding proinsulin was successfully integrated into cow embryos. Modern genetic technology has made this possible The cow must not only produce milk, but also human insulinWhich could revolutionize production.
The research team used somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), which has previously been used to create genetically modified animals such as sheep, cows and pigs that can produce certain proteins such as insulin. Thanks to better genetic technology, it has been confirmed that human DNA only works in the cow's mammary gland, the tissue responsible for milk production.
The genetically modified cow was unable to become pregnant in the usual way, so it was treated with hormones to make it produce milk. The milk produced by the animal was less than that of the non-pregnant animal, although human proinsulin and insulin were also present in the milk. Researchers believe that a herd of 100 animals could produce enough insulin for the entire America. A larger herd could solve the entire world's insulin problem in one year.
