Question

How did Eli Lilly synthesis the human insulin? Mention one difference between this insulin and the one produced by the human pancreas?

Answer 1

Hint: Insulin is the hormone produced by the islets of Langerhans cells in the pancreas. This hormone regulates the blood sugar level in the blood i.e. decreases the sugar level in the blood. Eli Lilly and company produced the first insulin in 1923 through a new and breakthrough technology which made them one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

Complete answer:
Eli lily is one of the first pharmaceutical companies to produce human insulin using RDT technology by cell based fermentation method. It is produced by inserting the gene which produces insulin into a suitable vector which is E.coli which is the mode readily available and non-pathogenic strain of bacteria.

The two DNA sequences were used which corresponded to A and B chains of human Insulin and introduced them to E.coli plasmid.
These chains were produced separately and were extracted and combined by creating disulphide bonds to form human insulin.
The main difference in the two insulin is that it is synthesised as apro-hormone containing the C peptide which is removed in mature hormones whereas the insulin synthesised by RDT do not contain C peptide.

Note: Recombinant DNA technology is a new technique of introducing the foreign DNA in the genome of an organism. The recombinant DNA is made by joining the two DNA molecules which involves the use of vectors called plasmids. The new recombinant plasmid is inserted into a host to produce new genetic combinations or hybrids which are useful in the field of agriculture, science, industry and health.