The evolution of technology has made it possible to produce insulin without using animals.

    by IcePizzaCreamm

    50 Comments

    1. Honestly wild to think something that once depended on animals is now made with precision biology science quietly improving lives without most people even noticing.

    2. And a huge thank you to the family of Frederick Banting and Charles Best and the wonderful Team for giving so much to us Diabetics, I would have been dead 30 years ago if it wasn’t for them. They sold it for $1 in 1923.

    3. Existing-Mulberry382 on

      Thank you, David V. Goeddel, Arthur Riggs and Keiichi Itakura for making it happen.

      Thank you, Frederick Banting, John Macleod, and Charles Best for their work on insulin, that saved millions of lives.

    4. Idontrememberalot on

      So do we now have heaps of pig pancreases just sitting there?
      Were those pigs raised just for the pancreases is what I’m asking?

      EDIT. Oh lord. So many spelling mistakes and typos.

    5. This has been true for a very, very long time.

      As an example, I was diagnosed type one in 1993 and have never used an animal insulin.

    6. Presently recombinant insulin is a $30B market and animal insulin is a $1.5B market, according to some light research. The pig parts are still in use because some patients resist human insulin.

    7. i feel obligated to point out that the pancreases were, and still are, a byproduct of the pork industry. pigs have never been raised for the specific purpose of insulin production.

      interestingly, i’ve actually talked with someone who used to work for a major food company in pig pancreas processing. they get a lot more than just insulin from them, there are several drugs derived from the process, and certain pigs have more valuable pancreases than others. how fresh the pancreas is is also very important. they put a ton of effort into identifying pigs with high value pancreases and getting them from the slaughterhouses to the processing facility as fast as possible, distances from all over the US.

    8. Yet it’s still about $400+ dollars per vial WITHOUT insurance.
      Let me remind us, that insulin was sold for $1 when it first was created and marketed as a treatment method.

    9. Insulin was discovered in my hometown by Banting, who swore to always have insulin be affordable to those that need it.

      Capitalism is a fucking cancer

    10. Ambitious-Concern-42 on

      If the inventors sold the patent for $1 in 1923, how the hell are American corporations charing a fortune for it???

    11. Similar thing happened with cheese and is why you can find labels on them telling you if they’re vegetarian or not.

      Rennet is an enzyme used in the production of cheese to curdle milk which was traditionally extracted from the stomach of calves, until 1990 when the FDA approved a genetically modified bacteria that could be used instead and now the vast majority of cheese is made using it instead.

    12. GlitteringBandicoot2 on

      Not just that, the “artifical” one is also LEAGUES better and cheaper!

      Like for example, the pig insulin worked about a 30 minutes later, so you had to inject 30 minutes before eating, and the whole point is to not let the blood glucose get to high, so you have to have it working while eating.

      Good luck timing that, unless dinner is already done and you just wait for 30 minutes till you can eat. But imagine being out in a restaurant or something. Impossible task. And when you don’t eat after those 30 minutes, you blood glucose is gonna plummet and can and probably will lead to hypo, which can result in a quick death.

    13. HardyPollutant on

      Thank you to all the pigs and animals that made it so I and many other diabetics are able to live. 🖤✨️

    14. I’m looking forward to future where we have similar comparison for 1kg of steak meet from cow vs some precision fermentation process to create the same.

    15. I’m fairly sure those pigs were going to become pork regardless of what happened to their pancreases

    16. I know at least a couple of people who’d go NUUUOOOOOOOOO I WANT MY PIG PANCREAS BACK NOT THE WOKE ANIMAL-FREE PRODUCT

    17. piranha_solution on

      Speaking of “using animals”…

      [Meat Consumption as a Risk Factor for Type 2 Diabetes](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3942738/)

      >Meat consumption is consistently associated with diabetes risk.

      [Meat and fish intake and type 2 diabetes: Dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32302686/)

      >Our meta-analysis has shown a linear dose-response relationship between total meat, red meat and processed meat intakes and T2D risk. In addition, a non-linear relationship of intake of processed meat with risk of T2D was detected.

      [Red meat consumption, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37264855/)

      >Unprocessed and processed red meat consumption are both associated with higher risk of CVD, CVD subtypes, and diabetes, with a stronger association in western settings but no sex difference. Better understanding of the mechanisms is needed to facilitate improving cardiometabolic and planetary health.

      [Does Poultry Consumption Increase the Risk of Mortality for Gastrointestinal Cancers? A Preliminary Competing Risk Analysis](https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/17/8/1370)

      >Our study showed that poultry consumption above 300 g/week is associated with a statistically significant increased mortality risk both from all causes and from GCs.

      [Egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes: a meta-analysis](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23643053/)

      >Our study suggests that there is a dose-response positive association between egg consumption and the risk of CVD and diabetes.

      [Lifetime Impact of Cow’s Milk on Overactivation of mTORC1: From Fetal to Childhood Overgrowth, Acne, Diabetes, Cancers, and Neurodegeneration](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8000710/)

      >Epidemiological studies confirm a correlation between cow’s milk consumption and birthweight, body mass index, onset of menarche, linear growth during childhood, acne vulgaris, type 2 diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, breast cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, neurodegenerative diseases, and all-cause mortality.

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