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Diabetes: Human Insulin from Cows [1]

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Date: 2024-03-20  

Diabetes breakthrough: Cow produces human insulin in world first

“I could see a future where a 100-head herd, equivalent to a small Illinois or Wisconsin dairy, could produce all the insulin needed for the country. And a larger herd? You could make the whole world’s supply in a year.”

Milk to the rescue for diabetics? Illinois project creates first insulin-producing cow

The insulin and proinsulin, which would need to be extracted and purified for use, were expressed at a few grams per liter in the milk. But because the lactation was induced hormonally and the milk volume was smaller than expected, the team can’t say exactly how much insulin would be made in a typical lactation.

Conservatively, Wheeler says if a cow could make 1 gram of insulin per liter and a typical Holstein makes 40 to 50 liters per day, that’s a lot of insulin. Especially since the typical unit of insulin equals 0.0347 milligrams.

“That means each gram is equivalent to 28,818 units of insulin,” Wheeler said. “And that's just one liter; Holsteins can produce 50 liters per day. You can do the math.”

The team plans to re-clone the cow, and is optimistic they’ll achieve greater success with pregnancy and full lactation cycles in the next generation. Eventually, they hope to create transgenic bulls to mate with the females, creating transgenic offspring that can be used to establish a purpose-built herd. Wheeler says even a small herd could quickly outcompete existing methods — transgenic yeast and bacteria — for producing insulin, and could do so without having to create highly technical facilities or infrastructure.

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