video 0x-jY

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:03][music] >> Genetically modified cows that produce [music] insulin in their milk.

[00:00:13]Genetically modified cows can produce proteins [music] in their milk needed to produce human insulin, scientists [music] have shown.

[00:00:23]A new method of producing insulin could help [music] increase the global supply of the drug.

[00:00:30]Insulin was discovered in 1921 [music] by Frederick Banting, who received the Nobel Prize for [music] it a few years later. [singing] This discovery was a breakthrough in the treatment [music] of diabetes.

[00:00:46]Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood glucose [music] levels. Without it, blood glucose levels become too [music] high, which leads to diabetes and its numerous complications.

[00:01:02]In 1955, [music] Frederick Sanger determined the amino acid sequence [music] of insulin, for which he was also awarded the Nobel Prize.

[00:01:14]His [music] work allowed the synthesis of insulin.

[00:01:18]Currently, insulin is produced by genetic [music] engineering using E. coli bacteria.

[00:01:26]These bacteria are implanted with the gene responsible [music] for the production of human insulin and are the main source of medical insulin.

[00:01:36]Similar [music] solutions were also introduced in the case of yeast. Before these techniques were developed, [music] diabetics took bovine insulin. Now scientists [music] from the University of Illinois and the Universidade de São [music] Paulo have developed a new way to produce insulin.

[00:01:59]It [music] turns out that it can be produced by genetically modified cows in their [music] milk.

[00:02:06]The study authors indicate that their method can eliminate [music] drug shortages and their high costs for people with diabetes.

[00:02:16]The results [music] and description of the research were published in Biotechnology Journal.

[00:02:23]The idea of using cows to produce insulin is not new, but only recent studies have confirmed that it can be done. The authors of the study believe that a herd of cattle modified in this way could compete with current methods of insulin production, [music] which are based on genetically modified yeast and bacteria. [music] Diabetes is a disease characterized by elevated blood glucose levels. [music] This is caused by a defect in the beta functioning of the beta cells of the pancreas, [music] which produce insulin to lower blood sugar levels.

[00:03:07]In type 1 diabetes, beta [music] cells are destroyed by the immune system.

[00:03:14]As a result, the ability to produce insulin disappears.

[00:03:19]In type 2 diabetes, tissue [music] sensitivity to insulin is reduced. As a result, the body demands increased insulin production, which exceeds the capabilities of beta cells. As a result, beta cells do not function properly and the level of insulin in the body decreases, >> [music] >> although it is still produced.

[00:03:47]Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes.

[00:03:52]Scientists have been wondering for years how to help people with diabetes.

[00:03:59]>> [music] >> In a 2020 study, they successfully tested a new technique on mice to transform human stem cells into insulin-producing [clears throat] beta cells of the pancreas.

[00:04:14]The condition of rodents with acute diabetes that underwent therapy quickly improved.

[00:04:21]>> [music] >> His blood glucose levels returned to normal and remained so for many months.

[00:04:28]In turn, in research from a year ago, scientists reprogrammed stem [music] cells obtained from human stomach tissue into cells resembling insulin-secreting pancreatic cells, known as beta cells.

[00:04:45][music] Transplanting small groups of such cells reversed the symptoms of diabetes in mice.

[00:04:54]Mother nature designed the mammary gland as a factory for really efficient protein production.

[00:05:03]"We can use this system to produce protein that could help hundreds of millions of people around the world," said Matt Wheeler [music] from the University of Illinois, lead author of the paper.

[00:05:17]As part of [music] the new study, scientists introduced a section of human DNA coding [music] for proinsulin, a protein that converts into insulin, into the cell nuclei of 10 cow embryos.

[00:05:32][music] The embryos were then placed in the wombs [music] of cows that had not undergone any modifications.

[00:05:42]Of the 10 cows, [music] only one became pregnant and gave birth to a transgenic [music] calf.

[00:05:49]Human DNA was targeted for expression, the process by which gene sequences are read and converted [music] into protein products, exclusively in breast tissue.

[00:06:03]"In the old days, we just [music] threw in DNA and hoped it would be expressed where we wanted it.

[00:06:11]Nowadays, [music] we can be much more strategic and intentional.

[00:06:17]Using a DNA [music] construct specific to mammary tissue means that there is no human insulin circulating [music] in the cow's blood or other tissues.

[00:06:29]It also [music] takes advantage of the mammary gland's ability to produce large amounts of protein," [music] Wheeler said.

[00:06:38]Once the transgenic cow reached [music] sexual maturity, scientists attempted to impregnate it using [music] standard artificial insemination techniques. They tried in vitro [music] fertilization, artificial insemination, and even old-fashioned methods.

[00:06:59]>> [music] >> However, none of them were successful.

[00:07:03]Ultimately, they induced lactation in the cow through hormonal induction.

[00:07:09]Lactation produced milk, but in smaller quantities [music] than after a successful pregnancy.

[00:07:18]Despite this, human proinsulin and, surprisingly, [music] insulin were detected in the milk.

[00:07:27]This is the first case [music] of human insulin production in genetically engineered cattle.

[00:07:34]Mass spectrometry [music] showed the presence of C-peptide.

[00:07:39]In the process of insulin formation, this peptide is removed [music] from proinsulin.

[00:07:46]This suggests that cow's milk converted human [music] proinsulin into insulin.

[00:07:53]Wheeler admitted that their goal was to produce proinsulin.

[00:07:57]However, it turned out that the cow was able to convert it into insulin on its own.

[00:08:05]Insulin and proinsulin, which would [music] require extraction and purification before use, were produced [music] approximately a few grams per liter of milk.

[00:08:18]However, scientists cannot determine exactly how much insulin would be produced during a typical lactation because lactation was hormonally induced and the milk volume [music] was lower than expected.

[00:08:34]Wheeler says that if a cow can produce 1 g of insulin per liter and a Holstein Friesian dairy cow can produce [music] 40 to 50 L of milk per day, this production method would yield large amounts of [music] insulin, especially since a typical unit of insulin is 0.0347 [music] mg.

[00:09:00]The research team plans to recreate the genetically modified embryos and implant them into [music] cows with the hope of achieving greater success with pregnancy and full lactation [music] cycles.

[00:09:15]Researchers are also talking about transgenic bulls that could mate with females, thus [music] creating transgenic offspring that could be used to establish a special insulin-producing herd.

[00:09:30]Wheeler says [music] even a small herd could quickly overtake existing methods of producing insulin, transgenic yeast and bacteria. [music] Moreover, the herd could do this [music] without the need to create expensive facilities and infrastructure.

[00:09:50]"I see a future [music] in which a herd of 100, equivalent to a small dairy.

[00:09:58]We'll be able to produce insulin for the entire country. [music] What about a larger herd? We could supply the whole world in a year, Wheeler said.

[00:10:10]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Extremely promising results [music] of CAR T therapy in the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme.

[00:10:40]A new immune cell-based treatment for glioblastoma [music] multiforme, the most aggressive type of brain [music] cancer, has shown extremely promising results, according to two studies. New therapies are still in their early stages of [music] development and their effects are short-lived.

[00:11:04]But scientists believe there is reason for optimism. Glioblastoma multiforme is one of the most malignant tumors.

[00:11:14]The median survival of patients is approximately 14 months.

[00:11:20]Treatment involves removing the tumor, radiotherapy, and administering chemotherapy.

[00:11:27]But even this therapy extends [music] survival by an average of 3 to 6 months.

[00:11:34]Therefore, gliomas are one of the most difficult tumors to treat [music] and operate on.

[00:11:42]Two new studies suggest that glioblastoma, the most aggressive [music] brain cancer, can be defeated using next-generation engineered immune cells. Anti-cancer therapies that use immune system cells [music] are classified as so-called immunotherapy.

[00:12:04]This [music] method involves collecting lymphocytes produced in the bone marrow and maturing in the thymus from the patient.

[00:12:13]This therapy is called CAR [music] T therapy.

[00:12:17]The description and results of the research of two different teams were published in Nature Medicine [music] and New England Journal of Medicine.

[00:12:29]CAR T immunotherapy is a personalized therapy and involves the genetic [music] modification of T lymphocytes, immune system cells, in a specific patient. [music] Using a viral vector, a gene encoding a receptor that recognizes an antigen specific [music] to the cancer the cell is supposed to fight is introduced into [music] these cells.

[00:12:58]The modified cells are then reintroduced into the patient's body in the hope that they will detect [music] and destroy tumors.

[00:13:07]But CAR T therapy has some limitations.

[00:13:09][music] It is expensive, technically demanding, and only applies to a few types of cancer. It is also risky. Some patients do not respond to treatment at all, and others may experience dangerous side effects.

[00:13:29]>> [music] >> It also does not apply to solid tumors, which constitute the vast majority [music] of cancers.

[00:13:38]At least that's how it was until now. In new research, two teams saw promising signs of tumor shrinkage after using engineered T cells that target two proteins produced by glioblastoma cells.

[00:13:55][music] T cells are designed to focus on only one target.

[00:14:01]But the results presented [music] show that T cells can be engineered to treat a wider range of cancers. [music] This lends credence to the potential power [music] of T cells to impact solid tumors, especially in the brain, [music] says Brian Choi, a neurosurgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and lead author of the study [music] published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

[00:14:31]Gliomas pose a [music] huge challenge.

[00:14:35]They grow quickly and can mix with healthy [music] cells in the brain, creating widespread tumors that are difficult to remove [music] surgically.

[00:14:45]Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation [music] therapy are usually the only treatment options for these cancers and usually result in short-term partial responses.

[00:14:59]In CAR T therapy, a person's own T cells are removed from the body and equipped with [music] proteins that help the cells home to the tumor.

[00:15:10]The blended cells [music] are then reintroduced into the body.

[00:15:15]Over the past few years, >> [music] >> researchers have been developing T cells that target specific molecules produced by certain gliomas.

[00:15:27]Both papers went a [music] step further by designing T cells that attack not one type [music] of molecule, but two.

[00:15:37]H. Choi and his [music] colleagues engineered T cells to attach to a mutated form of a protein called epidermal growth factor receptor, [music] EGFR, which is produced by some glioblastoma cells.

[00:15:55]The newly engineered [music] cells also secreted antibodies that bind to both T cells and the unmutated form of EGFR, which is not typically produced [music] by brain cells, but often by glioblastoma cells. [music] The result is CAR T therapy, which primes [music] the immune system to fight against cells expressing the mutated or unmutated form of EGFR.

[00:16:24][music] Choi and his team administered the engineered cells to three adults with relapsed glioblastoma multiforme, meaning their cancer had returned after radiation [music] and chemotherapy.

[00:16:41]The researchers observed that the tumors [music] appeared to shrink in all three cases.

[00:16:47]Unfortunately, after a short [music] period of reduction, the tumors returned to their former sizes.

[00:16:56]But in one man, the tumor shrinkage lasted for more than 6 months. The second team, led by Steven Bagley, a neuro-oncologist at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, [music] developed T cells that target both EGFR and another protein found in gliomas called interleukin [music] 13 alpha 2 receptor.

[00:17:28]These studies were conducted [music] on six people who also had recurrent glioma.

[00:17:35]After the modified [music] T cells died, the tumors shrank in all participants. [music] After a month, one patient's tumor began to grow again. In another, the tumor showed no signs of [music] progression for 7 months.

[00:17:54]One participant dropped out of the study, and in the remaining three people, [music] the tumors did not return to their previous size during the 6-month [music] study period.

[00:18:07]Measuring the size of a glioma is extremely difficult [music] due to its diffuse shape.

[00:18:15]And visible changes in tumor size may be influenced by the inflammation that occurs when [music] T cells are administered directly to the brain.

[00:18:26]However, tumor RNA measurements in Choi's study suggest [music] that the tumors may have actually shrunk.

[00:18:35]It turns out [music] that engineering T cells with multiple targets could ultimately [music] result in therapies with long-lasting effects by making it harder for cancer cells to develop ways to resist the therapy.

[00:18:51]Both studies found that CAR T therapy [music] was safe and reduced tumor size in all nine patients.

[00:19:00]In a study published in Nature Medicine, patients saw a reduction within 1 or 2 days of receiving the therapy.

[00:19:10]In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, NEJM, after 1 to 5 days, one patient's tumor in the study published in NEJM had almost completely regressed after 5 days, while another patient's tumor [music] decreased in size by 60.7%.

[00:19:35]After 69 [music] days, but the effects of these therapies were not entirely permanent. In the study, which appeared in NEJM, tumors returned [music] to size in two patients within a month and 72 days after the first injection.

[00:19:56]>> [music] >> But one of the subjects showed no signs of cancer occurrence more than 150 days after treatment. [music] This marked the end of the therapy's testing and it is not known whether this occurred later. [music] Some of the reductions seen in the Nature Medicine study also lasted for several months.

[00:20:20]New CAR-T cell therapies are still in the early stages of development and no data is yet available [music] on the long-term survival rates of patients in which they have been tested.

[00:20:35]Nevertheless, scientists believe there are reasons for optimism. [music] More data is needed to assess the long-term effects of new therapies and studies will need to be conducted in larger, more diverse groups of patients.

[00:20:52][music] The results are exciting, but this is just the beginning. "They tell us that we are on the right track in conducting a therapy that can change the prospects of this incurable disease." emphasizes [music] Dr. Marcela Maus, co-author of the study published [music] in NEJM.

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[00:26:51]Yes.

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