5.14 Humulin

1. we are looking at the production of human insulin in a fermenter. 
2. In 5.13b we saw how this bacterial cell here has been transformed by the addition of recombinat DNA
3. The black circle represents the plasmid DNA 
4. Th yellow dot represents the human insulin gene

1. A culture, a large population, of these bacteria will be injected into the fermenter 
2. It will be necessary to provide this culture nutrients, control the temp and pH and gases in the fermenting chamber. 
3. By creating these optimal temperature for bacterial growth we will see population increase and we will see the bacteria switch on the insulin gene and manufacture the protein insulin.  
4. The bacteria inside the fermenter will manufacture the insulin protein from the nutrients provided (amino acids).
5. It will then be necessary to remove the product and carry out purification of the insulin. 
6. Downstream processing is used to purify the insulin for human consumption. 
7. The genetically engineered insulin is called humulin