Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Types of
Recombinant Drugs
PROTEIN FACTORIES
On television, you have probably seen factories that are vast computer-
controlled, super-clean spaces with equipment tended by techni-
cians in space suits, booties, and hoods. This is an accurate image
of manufacturing plants that work in the modern biotechnology
industry. Picture an enormous room full of shiny stainless steel
vats, each two stories tall and containing 5,000 to 10,000 gallons of
a broth—composed of water, salt, and sugar—in which bacteria are
dividing again and again. Pretty soon there are millions, billions,
and trillions of bacteria, all the same and all busily producing
human insulin (Figure 4.1). The vats are connected to a network of
tubes and devices to withdraw the insulin from the broth, remove
almost everything else, and emit a concentrated solution of insulin.
This solution is then sent to another set of machines to be mixed
with preservatives and a few other chemicals to make it suitable for
45
Search WWH ::
Custom Search