Word: insulin
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...microchip. A lot of Yankeeingenuity is spent, to be sure, on diverting gadgetry, such as a projected palm-size phone and a vacuum cleaner with a memory (a seemingly gratuitous burden). But recent developments in medicine, such as the hybridoma cells for cancer treatment and the creation of insulin through genetic engineering, are making the 1980s look boldly promising...
...entrepreneur named Robert Swanson, then 28, to exploit this amazing-and, in some eyes, dangerous-new technology. Only lately has their firm, Genentech Inc.. begun to turn a profit. But its prototype bacterial factories have been extremely busy. They have already produced half a dozen different substances, including insulin, human growth hormone and interferon, the antiviral agent being investigated as a cancer cure. Genentech (pronounced jeh-nen-tek) has also paid off handsomely for Boyer (his initial investment: $500). Offered publicly last October, its stock shot up within 20 minutes to $89 a share from an initial price...
These techniques have eased the way for all sorts of gene splicing. By the insertion of appropriate new genes, bacteria have already been "taught" to produce interferon, the antiviral substance that helps the body ward off disease, as well as human insulin. In the offing: gene-replacement therapy for genetic ailments, the creation of new types of plants and industrial enzymes, possibly even an understanding of cancer...
...list of products by Genentech, a four-year-old San Francisco-based firm, reads like a cornucopia of blessings for mankind. It includes a hormone that may stimulate human growth, mass-produced human insulin that could reduce the cost of treating diabetes, and interferon (TIME, March 31), which may be used to treat everything from cancer to the common cold. Shares of Genentech are expected to go on sale soon on the over-the-counter market, and investors are queuing up to buy what some believe will be one of the strongest new issues...
Recombinant DNA, or gene splicing, is a kind of modern alchemy. Scientists obtain DNA for a desired product, such as human insulin, and insert it into the DNA of a laboratory strain of a common intestinal bacterium. The bacterium, following directions from the new DNA, then produces the insulin. Scientists believe that the technique can be used to form a number of healthcare, agricultural and industrial products more cheaply and easily than ever before (see MEDICINE...