Genetic Engineering and Diabetes

Before genetic engineering, people living with diabetes had to rely on insulin from slaughtered pigs to stay alive.  It worked, but animal insulin is not quite the same as the human form and it could cause problems such as allergic reactions.  Since 1982, insulin has been manufactured using bacteria engineered with human genes using a technique called recombinant DNA.

We are what we eat

Harnessing microbes through genetic engineering allows us to make medicines quickly and in quantity, helping to make them more affordable and available.   In the same way, fortifying the crops that people eat regularly allows them to grow their own vitamins rather than rely on additions of supplements.