The perfect solution to end the insulin crisis around the world!

A team of scientists has been able to produce the proteins needed for human insulin in the milk of a genetically modified cow, which may be the perfect solution to the world's insulin supply problems.

Scientists believe that their new method may outperform current insulin production methods, which rely on genetically modified yeast and bacteria.

Insulin was first discovered in 1921, and diabetics were treated for many years with insulin extracted from the pancreas of cows and pigs.

But in 1978, the first “human” insulin was produced using proteins from genetically modified Escherichia coli bacteria, which is the main source of medical insulin to this day, along with similar processes that use yeast instead of bacteria.

The research team, led by zoologist Matt Wheeler from the University of Illinois Urbana Chamin, inserted a specific portion of human DNA that codes for proinsulin (a protein that turns into insulin) into the cell nucleus of 10 cow embryos, which are then implanted into the wombs of normal cows.

Only one of the genetically modified embryos developed into a pregnancy that resulted in a natural birth to a live genetically modified cow. At the maturity stage, the team made several attempts to make the genetically modified cow pregnant, through artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization. None of them were successful, but the team notes that this may have more to do with how the embryo was formed than the fact that it was genetically modified.

But they were able to get the cow to produce milk through hormonal induction, using an undisclosed method attributed to animal reproductive technology expert Pietro Baroselli of the University of São Paulo.

The small amount of milk the cow produced over the course of a month was examined for specific proteins, and two bands were detected with similar molecular masses to proinsulin and human insulin, which were not present in the milk of non-GMO cows.

The scientists also revealed the presence of C-peptide that was removed from human proinsulin in the process of insulin formation, indicating that enzymes in cow's milk may have converted "human" proinsulin into insulin.

If each cow produced one gram of insulin per liter of milk, that would be 28,818 units of insulin, Wheeler said.

He added: "I can see a future where a herd of 100 cows could produce all the insulin the country needs. With a larger herd you could supply the whole world's supply in one year."

The study was published in the journal Biotechnology.