Question

Describe how a named type of microorganism can be used to produce insulin on a commercial scale.

Answer 1

Answer: E.coli or Escherichia coli

Step-by-step explanation:

Procedure

1. Obtain the segment of DNA in a human chromosome that contains insulin gene. Cut the gene using a restriction enzyme. This enzyme cuts the restriction site at the two ends of the gene to produce sticky ends. Each sticky end is a single strand sequence of DNA bases. These bases can pair with complementary bases to form a double strand.
2.Obtain a plasmid from a bacterium. Cut the plasmid with same restriction enzyme. This produces 'sticky ends' complementary to the ends of the Insulin gene.
3. Mix the plasmid with the DNA segment containing the human insulin gene. The human insulin gene will bind to their sticky ends. Add the enzyme DNA ligase to seal the human plasmid containing DNA from two different organisms is recombinant plasmid
4. Mix the recombinant plasmid with E.coli bacterium. Apply temporary electric shock. This opens pores of cell surface membrane of the bacterium for the plasmid to enter.
5.The transgenic bacterium will use the new gene to make insulin

The insulin protein has to be extracted and purified before it can be used

Answer 2

The development in the field of genetic engineering allowed the production of insulin in E. coli and yeast, which have been approved for therapeutic applications in human by FDA [14,15]. Nowadays, recombinant human insulin is mainly produced either in E. coli or Saccharomyces cerevisiae.