Question

Why are biotechnology companies eager to design genetically modified organisms to express therapeutic proteins, particularly ones that would otherwise have to be isolated from blood products (e.g., human antithrombin) or animal organs (e.g., insulin, originally isolated from pig pancreas)?
a. Biotechnology companies want to produce therapeutic proteins in the most cost-effective way.
b. There are safety concerns when using proteins from different species or isolating proteins from humans.
c. It is difficult to collect enough of some low-abundance proteins.

Answer 1

Answer:

C.

Explanation:

The production of insulin before the advent of biotechnology required the manufacturer to collect tons of butchered animal pancreas which was an otherwise useless by product. The amount of insulin was very small and required a painstaking many-step process of purification.