Flower Power

In 1922, Canadian scientists isolated insulin for the first time. Since then scientists have genetically engineered several organisms that over produce human insulin. However insulin is still expensive and with the demands of insulin only going up due to the increase in diabetes around the world a cheaper option is long overdue. The answer may have been found in plants.

Scientists at the University of Calgary have genetically engineered the human gene for insulin into the common plant safflower. Once the gene is turned on within the flower, the flower begins producing insulin faster than traditional methods that utilize pigs, cows, yeast, or bacteria.

This is the first instance of a plant producing the insulin, and it does so prolifically, to the tune of roughly 1kg of insulin per acre of flowers. At that rate, 40 square kilometres of safflower could produce enough insulin for the world's entire diabetic population.