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posted by takyon on Tuesday September 18 2018, @12:15PM   Printer-friendly
from the inject-this dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

Open Insulin, 'DIY bio' and the future of pharma

The development, manufacture and sale of pharmaceutical drugs in the United States is a complex landscape involving intellectual property and strict federal regulations. But according to Colorado State University scientists, the status quo of the U.S. pharmaceutical market may soon be turned on its head. That's due in part to a growing community of do-it-yourself "biohackers" who are disrupting business-as-usual for pharmaceutical discovery, development and distribution. A Sept. 13 perspective piece in Trends in Biotechnology [DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.07.009] [DX] frames these emerging issues, and predicts how the pharmaceutical industry, and the U.S. regulatory environment, will need to change in response.

[...] The authors use the California-based Open Insulin Project as a case study of how the DIY bio movement might shape the future of medicine. Founded in 2015, the project's creators are trying to increase competition in the insulin market by developing and releasing an open-source protocol for manufacturing off-patent insulin.

Why does the Open Insulin Project exist in the first place? Insulin is 100 years old, but it remains prohibitively expensive for many patients, with some uninsured patients paying up to $400 a month for this life-saving medicine. People are angry, and in some cases, people are dying, from lack of access to affordable insulin.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 18 2018, @04:26PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 18 2018, @04:26PM (#736586)

    I am of the opinion that you shouldn't do heroic things to prolong the life of an animal.
    (It's not a person that has dependents, after all.) Especially if it has reached a normal lifespan, let it go. There are too many cats or dogs that need homes to spend a bunch of resources propping up a dying one. Better to let nature take its course (well, ethanize if suffering) and adopt another healthy animal. You're actually doing greater good that way in my opinion.

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 18 2018, @06:33PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 18 2018, @06:33PM (#736644)

    What about people who don't have dependents? Better to clear them out and make room for healthier people?

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 18 2018, @06:48PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 18 2018, @06:48PM (#736647)

    Your logic makes sense, however one of our strengths as humans is the ability for love and compassion. Many people view their animals as family members and whether you agree with that or not no amount of "greater good" logic will change their perspective. If they can provide their animals with another 6 months or a few years of happy life then that is what they will do if they can afford it.

    Is it logical? No. Is it human and comforting to know people actually do care? YES!

    • (Score: 2) by Alfred on Tuesday September 18 2018, @07:51PM

      by Alfred (4006) on Tuesday September 18 2018, @07:51PM (#736691) Journal
      You are exactly right because each person is allowed, even entitled, to make bad decisions with their resources.

      Some people switch from spending money to let them die when they realize what they could have bought instead. Even for actual family members, love can be a fickle thing.