Uses for Recombinant Protein Drugs - Biotechnology and Your Health: Pharmaceutical Applications - page 61

5
Uses for
Recombinant
Protein Drugs
PIONEERS AND MEDICAL ADVANCES
The first modern biotechnology drugs, human insulin and human
growth hormone, were replacement proteins for conditions that had
been treated with proteins extracted from animal or human tissues.
In 1982, recombinant human insulin was approved to control blood
glucose levels, and in 1985, recombinant human growth hormone
was approved to treat children who were growing too slowly because
of a lack of growth hormone. Previously, insulin was extracted from
animal tissues and human growth hormone was extracted from the
brains of human cadavers. Physicians and patients were familiar
with the older versions of these drugs, and the recombinant prod-
ucts, though pioneering, were not considered dramatic medical
breakthroughs. Animal insulin was widely available and worked
quite well for the vast majority of insulin-dependent diabetics, and
although the lack of growth hormone might have presented social
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