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2024-11-11

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Plant-based insulin derived from lettuce, can be taken orally (newatlas.com)

submitted 2 years ago by Transcendant to c/science

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"Animal cells share some qualities with plant cells, but one key feature ours lack is a rigid cell wall. While this provides structure for plants, it’s also something scientists are increasingly looking at for use in new materials, cellulose technology and, now, insulin delivery."

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[–] Evono 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

That sounds absolutely amazing typ 1 and 2 Diabetes are rising heavily and this could help insanely.

[–] Transcendant 3 points 2 years ago

Exactly, I know it always takes a while for these discoveries to become reality but this could potentially be a gamechanger for insulin... and perhaps the technique will be used for other costly-to-make drugs. Will certainly bring a new meaning to "eat your veggies, they'll make you grow big and strong"!

[–] CountZero 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I was kind of skeptical of how this would be useful. There's no way growing insulin in lettuce is more efficient than growing it in bacteria or yeast. BUT, their lettuce insulin stuff doesn't require refrigeration, which is obviously a huge advantage.

[–] Transcendant 1 points 2 years ago

This is it, lack of refrigeration is huge... and maybe it can be repurposed for other meds. It also might not be an issue for it to be less efficient, if it's massively less expensive to grow... would be sweet for people who need insulin to be able to grow their own haha.