How Close are Researchers to Developing Insulin that Doesn’t Need Refrigeration?

[Northerner]

While many diabetes researchers are focusing on treatments and possible cures using nanotechnology, implantable devices, and even DNA manipulation, one researcher is attracting attention and making real progress by tackling the issue old school.

“Insulin is the answer to multiple issues facing people with diabetes,” says Dr. Michael Weiss, Chairman of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Director of the Center for Chemical Biology at Indiana University. To translate his academic studies, he became a founder of Thermalin, Inc., a company working on new types of insulin optimized for specific unmet needs. “Insulin, in many cases, is the key to really prolonging and improving life for people with diabetes.”

Weiss recalls that as a medical student in his 20s it was not uncommon to encounter young adults with diabetes coping with wide ranging and significant medical issues, such as blindness, renal failure, and other, at the time common, complications from suboptimal glycemic control—often poor by current standards.

https://asweetlife.org/researcher-working-to-improve-insulin/

Frio will be quaking! 😱 😉

 

[Heath o]

What happens if the insulin is warm,why does it have to be refrigerated

 

[Northerner]

What happens if the insulin is warm,why does it have to be refrigerated

It's OK out of the fridge for up to 28 days at room temperature, but needs to kept out of high temperatures or insulated from low temperatures. The 'safe' ranges are on the leaflets for each insulin. If it is kept outside of the 'safe' range then it can lose its efficacy, so you might inject and then find it's not working properly to bring your levels under control.

 

[mikeyB]

Aye, but how come real life insulin works at 37 degrees without denaturing?