The disadvantages of insulin obtained from the pancreas of slaughtered cows and pigs are:
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Before the advent of rDNA technology, insulin was obtained from the pancreas of pigs and cows.
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However, there was a slight structural different of 1-3 amino acids between the animal insulin and human insulin. When his animal insulin was administered by a diabetic patient he developed antibodies against the animal insulin thereby causing allergic reactions.
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Another disadvantage was large number of animals were to be sacrificed for extracting the insulin from their pancreas. For example: To obtain 5 kgs. Of pancreatic juice about 75 pigs have to be killed to get insulin for treating only a single diabetic patient just for one year.
