Comany
to test,
sythetic
insulin
The Michigan Doily-Tuesday, July 22, 1980-Page 11
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INDIANAPOLIS (AP)-Using the technique of
recombinant DNA to direct bacteria to produce
something they normally don't, pharmaceutical
giant Eli Lilly & Co. plans to test synthetic insulin on
humans and-if tests succeed-will begin com-
merical production, company spokesmen said
yesterday.
Edgar Davis, vice president for corprote affairs,
announced the $40 million project for research and
new facilities, saying the bacterica-produced hor-
mone was the first product of Lilly's research
program on DNA and gene splicing.
DAVIS SAID BIOSYNTHETIC insulin produced by
bacteria could avert a potential shortage of insulin
triggered by an ever-increasing number of diabetics
and a worldwide decline in the supply of animal pan-
creases used in conventional insulin production.
The combination has "suggested that a shortage of
insulin could occur in 20 or so years," he said.
In 1923, the Indianapolis-based company
pioneered commercial production of insulin, which is
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carbohydrates.
SUFFERERS OF DIABETEShave too little insulin
and too much sugar in their blood; more than one
million diabetic Americans rely on daily insulin in-
jections to stay alive.
Biosynthetic insulin is the first practical result of
the technique of recombinant DNA or gene splicing, a
newly developed field of molecular biology that per-
mits man to alter genes, the building blocks of life,
which determine size, skin, and eye color and other
hereditary traits.
The genetic codes of living organisms are written
in long molecules called DNA, located in the nucleus
of cells. Scientists can restructure DNA molecules
and insert them into living cells, giving the cells new
traits.
Lilly researchers insert a gene coding for the
production of insulin into cells of E. coli bacteria, the
same bacteria found in the human gut.
Davis said construction of testing facilities is under
way and should be complete by 1982 at Lilly
facilities in Indianapolis and in England.
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