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vibriojoey t1_j8x077u wrote

Insulin is made by bacteria now

Testosterone is synthesized from plants that produce similar compounds that we can convert in a lab to create it. Estrogen is done through similar means as well. But bacteria may be used as well to create enzymes needs to syntheize it or make the entire hormone but every manufactuer has their methods and a lot of if it based on cost of the method and the total yield.

But strong knowledge of chemistry means their are multiple ways to get what you want and nature is wonderful resource for bioprospecting and finding tools you need. Again it all depends on price and some methods are more expensive then others. If you have thr funds to invest for the right machinery and tools you can easily make any method work to mass produce enough to make great profits.

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CrateDane t1_j8yatur wrote

>Insulin is made by bacteria now

Or yeast. Bacteria usually give higher crude yields of protein, while yeast is better at making eukaryotic proteins correctly (or closer to it, at least).

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nicholsz t1_j8x9pt8 wrote

Yeah, this. We just put the genes to create whatever molecule we want in a bunch of e. Coli and grow them in vats then harvest the molecule.

It's super easy to put genes in e. Coli since they don't have a nucleus, you just shove the DNA in there and away they go.

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