Injectable Medication for Diabetics Inspired by the Gila Monster

the black and tan bumpy head of a gila monster

Innovation: Industry

AstraZeneca

2005

Image: Andrew DuBois / Flickr / CC BY NC - Creative Commons Attribution + Noncommercial

Regulate Cellular Processes

Cells are the basic building blocks of all living systems, so cellular processes dictate how physiological processes occur within those systems. Cells (whether entire unicellular organisms or parts of multicellular living systems) grow, metabolize nutrients (that is, chemically transform them), produce proteins and enzymes, replicate, and move. Cells as part of multicellular systems rarely act alone, instead having ways to signal to start and complete simple to quite complex interactions. How skin heals is a good example of the role of cellular processes. Blood cells called platelets release clotting factors to stop the bleeding; white blood cells rid the area of foreign materials and release molecules to coordinate healing; cells called fibroblasts start rebuilding using proteins called collagen; new blood vessels form; and skin cells called keratinocytes create the new surface.

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Maintain Homeostasis

When a living system is in homeostasis, it means that internal conditions are stable and relatively constant. For example, a human’s internal temperature is approximately 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit) unless there’s an illness. The human body maintains this temperature despite external ambient temperature. However, as with all physiological processes, maintaining homeostasis requires communication and coordination. So living systems have ways to detect changes from the norm, mechanisms to cause an adjustment, and negative feedback connections between the two. A desert lizard called the Gila monster offers a good example of maintaining homeostasis. The lizard goes from eating large meals to fasting for extended time periods. To maintain its blood sugar levels at a steady level, when food is scarce, its endocrine system releases a hormone that raises its blood sugar levels.

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Patents

Byetta from AstraZeneca is an insulin sensitizer that mimics proteins from Gila monster saliva to help Type 2 diabetics maintain glucose levels.

Benefits

Insulin control
FDA approved

Applications

Prescription medicine

UN Sustainable Development Goals Addressed

Goal 3: Good Health & Wellbeing

The Challenge

Individuals diagnosed with diabetes face a variety of issues that need to be managed daily. Diabetes is a chronic disease where a person cannot regulate the amount of sugar (glucose) in their blood. With use of injections, diabetics are able to artificially control their blood sugar, helping to keep the disease in check.

Innovation Details

Byetta is an insulin sensitizer, which is part of a new class of drugs called incretin mimetics. These drugs mimic incretin s, which the body usually naturally produces to help stimulate insulin release after a meal. Byetta uses synthetic copies of a hormone from the saliva of the Gila monster (exendin-4), which serves a similar function, to improve blood sugar control in diabetics.

Biological Model

The Gila monster is an opportunistic carnivore that eats large meals when they are available and fasts for long periods in between. It has a hormone in its saliva, exendin-4, that helps it maintain its blood sugar levels during long periods of food scarcity.