Read the given passage and answer the following questions:
Managing diabetes is possible by administering insulin periodically. Insulin used for diabetes was earlier extracted from pancreas of slaughtered cattle and pigs. However, this insulin caused some people to develop allergies and other types of reactions. In mammals, including humans, insulin is synthesised as a prohormone and is later converted to insulin. Insulin consists of two short polypeptide chains: chain A and chain B, that are linked together by disulphide bridges.
Choose the correct statements from the following:
A. Recombinant therapeutics do not induce unwanted immunological responses.
B. Human insulin is made in bacteria, yet its structure is identical to that of the natural molecule.
C. Recombinant therapeutics are free from risk of infection.
D. Unwanted immunological responses are common in case of similar products isolated from human sources.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → A, B and C only
Recombinant therapeutics are medicines made by recombinant DNA technology, such as human insulin made in bacteria. Products taken from animals are foreign proteins and can cause immune reactions. Recombinant products are identical to human proteins, so they avoid this problem.
A. Recombinant therapeutics do not induce unwanted immunological responses. — True. They are identical to human proteins, so the body does not treat them as foreign.
B. Human insulin is made in bacteria, yet its structure is identical to that of the natural molecule. — True. The bacteria only make the chains; the finished hormone has the same structure as the insulin of the human body.
C. Recombinant therapeutics are free from risk of infection. — True. Products isolated from non-human sources carried this risk; recombinant products do not.
D. Unwanted immunological responses are common in case of similar products isolated from human sources. — False. Such responses are common with products isolated from non-human sources, for example insulin from cattle and pigs, which caused allergy in some patients.
Note: The fact that human insulin made in bacteria is identical to the natural molecule is printed in the chapter Summary. Read the last page of every chapter as well; it sometimes says what the main text leaves out.
NCERT Extract:
Biotechnological Applications in Medicine – “The recombinant DNA technological processes have made immense impact in the area of healthcare by enabling mass production of safe and more effective therapeutic drugs. Further, the recombinant therapeutics do not induce unwanted immunological responses as is common in case of similar products isolated from non-human sources.”
Summary – “… Since the recombinant therapeutics are identical to human proteins, they do not induce unwanted immunological responses and are free from risk of infection as was observed in case of similar products isolated from non-human sources. Human insulin is made in bacteria yet its structure is absolutely identical to that of the natural molecule.”