Insulin
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Thornhiller (talk | contribs) at 23:46, August 15, 2007. It may differ significantly from current revision.
Insulin is a chemical that is created by the pancreas that allows the body to process glucose. People who have an insulin deficiency develop the disease diabetes. Insulin that is administered in the treatment of diabetes is now made by biotechnology, by growing of human Insulin in a genetically modified, non-disease producing strain of Escherichia coli bacteria. This method creates an insulin with fewer impurities than the old method of extraction from Bovine (cow) or porcine (pig) pancreas.
Insulin was discovered by Canadian Fredrick Banting in 1921, and he would win the Nobel Prize, almost immediately afterwards in 1923.