UNIT I ETHICAL ESSAY
RECOMBINANT (BACTERIAL) DNA INSULIN VS PIG PANCREATIC INSULIN
For years scientists have been making insulin obtained from pig's pancreas and it has been very successful in the treatment of diabetics for years and years. But what do scientists do??? They research for new treatment of diseases. The recombinant DNA technology is a new treatment for diabetic patients. The scientists used a weakened strand of E. coli (already found in our bodies) as a a vector=a carrier or transporter, ie., a virus or plasmid that conveys a genetically engineered DNA segment into a host cell (us).
The pig insulin has worked for years, so you may ask yourself; If it isn't broke, why fix it??? Well, people are always looking for a new and improved treatment for a disease. The Recombinant DNA human insulin has been proven indistinguishable from pancreatic human insulin. One problem did occur with its creation, but don't all new treatments have side effects.
I believe that it is by personal choice that a diabetic patient use pig insulin or the new technology of recombinant DNA insulin. Some people may think in two ways. The pig insulin comes from a very dirty animal and with recombinant DNA this is coming for E. coli (which is infectious) and can be very dangerous if the not controlled, but E coli is already produced in our bodies and the new Recombinant DNA is a weakened form and just used as a host cell. A good example of the E. coli is similar to the flu vaccine, you are actually getting a shot of a weakened flu virus.
the study in the article I read was the concerns of hypoglycemia which is low blood sugar which diabetic suffer from. In a British study published in "Lancet" hypoglycemia was induced on patients with the pig and human insulin and the study showed "no significant differences in the frequency of signs of hyoglycaemia between the users. A British women who had been dependant on the pig insulin switched to the Recombinant DNA insulin and experienced recurring hypoglycemia. She eventually went back on the pig insulin.
Dr Simone Wolff of the University of College of London said as far as he is concerned there no fault with the human insulin . Also, he thinks they need to have a study to examine the possible risks.
Again, I believe it is personal choice and trial and error. Diabetics have it hard enough! But trying something new, never hurt anyone. I believe there will a lot more studies done with insulin and the Recombinant DNA insulin with many improvements. Scientists are geared towards finding a new treatments for diabetes. All new drugs are trial and error!
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