What are the advantages and disadvantages of human insulin over animal insulin?
The main difference is the insulin molecule itself. “Human” insulin is produced using recombinant DNA in simple bacteria, and it is the exact same molecule normally produced by the human body. Animal insulin comes from two different source, either pigs or cows. The pig, or porcine, insulin is the closest to human insulin, in that only 1 amino acid in the sequence is different, while cows differ by 3 amino acids. The distinct advantage of human insulin is its availability. It is far easier to find human insulin as the animal insulins have undergoing somewhat of a phase-out. The other advantage is that human insulin tends to produce a more predictable response. As one answer has already pointed out, the most glaring risk with animal insulin is that of allergic reactions since the source is not human. Each carry the same side effect profile, which is topped by hypoglycemia.
