Open Insulin

Backed by Dave Morin, Calvin Ashmore, Pieter Iserbyt, John Arnold, Sean Van Der Linden, Patrik D'haeseleer, Adrian J. Moreno, Pete Schwamb, Ethan Perlstein, David S. H. Rosenthal, and 229 other backers
Counter Culture Labs
BiologyMedicine
Open Access
DOI: 10.18258/5755
$16,656
Raised of $6,000 Goal
277%
Funded on 12/04/15
Successfully Funded
  • $16,656
    pledged
  • 277%
    funded
  • Funded
    on 12/04/15

Discussion

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  • Jay Werner
    Jay Werner
    This project, and the counter culture labs generally, are such an amazing thing to do. I wish we had something like that in the northwest! I'm a chemist living in Seattle and would love to get involved in something like this. Honestly inspired to maybe start something of the kind in my locale If I'm ever in the Bay Area I will definitely give you guys a visit <3
    Feb 10, 2020
  • Colleen Fuller
    Colleen Fuller
    Why recombinant DNA insulin and not natural-sourced (bovine or porcine) insulin?
    Dec 26, 2019
  • Jay Werner
    Jay Werner
    Animal insulin is less ideal. Extracted from animal tissue, contamination of animal cells can cause allergic reactions and I believe it is just less effective overall. This is just from my limited knowledge of insulin history and a quick google search, but I think it makes the most sense to aim for manufacturing human insulin since it's the current standard.
    Feb 10, 2020
  • Colleen Fuller
    Colleen Fuller
    The body of evidence has consistently demonstrated that there is little to no difference between animal and recombinant human insulins (especially when comparing rDNA human and porcine insulin) in terms of antibodies, immunity, etc. There is no evidence to suggest animal insulin is less effective. It was estimated during the 1990s and early 2000s (when animal insulins were still available) that about 20% of insulin users could not safely or effectively manage their diabetes using recombinant human or analogue insulins. If you want evidence-based reviews of insulin check out the Cochrane Collaboration: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD003816.pub2/information (not Google).
    Feb 10, 2020
  • George Liu
    George Liu
    I came across an article in CNBC.COM about the Open Insulin project. I am a type 1 and a software engineer (iPhone). Let me know if I can be of help. Thanks
    Feb 14, 2019
  • Helen C Chambers
    Helen C Chambers
    I saw a short film online on your experiment, and more generally the struggle to get affordable insulin faced by 25% of diabetes. The film I saw was done by the Wall Street Journal. I paused the film the moment I heard what y’all (yes, I’m from Texas) are doing, and headed to google I thnk this project is heroic! I’m not a science person. I’m a writer and aspiring civil rights attorney. As such, I am deeply moved by the social justice aspects of your project, and the renegade “rage against the man!” aspects appeal to my background as a punk rocker in the 80’s. I came to this site hoping to help fund you. Not this month (Christmas, *sigh*) but after January. I stand in awe of the level of ethics it takes for you all To publicly state that you are over-funded. Suffice to say, you have my total respect. My best friend is diabetic, My father had diabetes. I don’t have it, yet, but my phyician says my triglyceride levels indicate that it’s coming. It is to be fervently hoped that you will succeed before I will need to make use of your protocol, but the reall impetus of my willingness to get inolved is not my own impending diabetes (frankly, I'm ill and may well die before this is an issue), my real impetus is the f*ck the man attitude you guys display. Now I have to ask you the obvious Aspiring Civil Rights Attorney questions: Are you all white males? And if so, what efforts have you made to include some women, some disabled persons, and some scientists of color? Having said that, I will leave you to culture on, dudes.
    Dec 06, 2018
  • Paul Keith Ennis
    Paul Keith Ennis
    Friend at work asked me if he could borrow some Novalog! WTF!!!!!! We have good health insurance, but he chose the wrong plan. I don't believe how much he is paying. How goes research?
    Jun 21, 2018
  • Anthony Di Franco
    Anthony Di FrancoResearcher
    Hi Paul! Sorry to hear. I had to borrow some Novolog myself a few months ago. Research goes quite well, and though our public channels have been quiet we've been heads down making a lot of progress and we're near a big milestone, so expect an update very soon!
    Jun 27, 2018
  • Helen C Chambers
    Helen C Chambers
    Hi Paul. If this is something you are considering doing (giving your friend prescription medication) please be advised that advertising this, with your name attached is a BAD idea. Sharing prescription medication is illegal. Protect yourself, man.
    Dec 06, 2018
  • Nicholas Horn
    Nicholas Horn
    Any new updates?
    Sep 05, 2016
  • Avinash Kumar
    Avinash Kumar
    great project and my best wishes to team! i follow project and learn more about genomics, and biohacking and wrote a blog post for it, please visit once :-) here http://biohack.in/open-insulin-project/
    Mar 16, 2016
  • Anthony Di Franco
    Anthony Di FrancoResearcher
    Thanks Avinash! I tried to load your link but it's not going through. Looking forward to checking it out when you've sorted it out.
    Mar 17, 2016
  • Josh T
    Josh T
    This is great, I'm a ped endo and the cost to families and to our healthcare system (hospitalizations/ER visits when people can't afford insulin) alone make me very excited about the project. If you ever want to run anything by someone on the clinical side, I would love to help.
    Feb 23, 2016
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    Thanks Josh! We just might take you up on that at some point. :)
    Feb 23, 2016
  • Anita Parsa
    Anita Parsa
    I just learned about this project today after a wine-induced fantasy of starting such a thing myself. ($900 insulin prescription picked up yesterday lead to my drinking lots of wine...) Anyway, how can I help? Is there anything I can do? I want this to happen!!! Thanks for what you're doing.
    Jan 15, 2016
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    $900!? That might be the record for cost of insulin. Yes, you can absolutely help :) Send me an email at Muldavin.m@gmail.com and I'll find you an assignment.
    Jan 15, 2016
  • Anthony Di Franco
    Anthony Di FrancoResearcher
    Also, if you're in the bay area you can join our weekly meetings at 7 pm Wednesdays and noon Sundays (Sundays are the big days for lab work), and if you're not you can join them via video chat, and we can all figure it out together.
    Jan 19, 2016
  • Kaur Jaanson
    Kaur JaansonBacker
    All the best to you. Looking forward to these results!
    Dec 08, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    Thanks for the support! We are too! Josiah transformed a bunch of cells this week. So, we are looking forward to playing with our newly engineered colonies in a couple of days!
    Dec 10, 2015
  • Doug Mackerman
    Doug MackermanBacker
    Hey you guys!!! I've been a subscriber to DIYBio, which is how I found you. I AM SO EXCITED you are doing this!! I have a 7 year old son who is a Type 1 with Celiacs and, as you know, the price of Insulin is expensive. Recent article in NEJM (http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMms1411398) discusses why but offers no solution. Thank you for the solution! Is the plan then to publish the "source code" like open source software so that the rest of us can make Insulin during the zombie apocalypse? ;)
    Dec 07, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    Yes! We are planning to create the open source protocol to produce insulin. Then a company can produce the generic drug. I know some kickass type 1 diabetics, so we needed to make sure they could survive to be on our zombie team. The only problem now is that they might be able to outrun me :-)
    Dec 10, 2015
  • Brandon Letize
    Brandon LetizeBacker
    Congratulations on getting funded! Science rocks and helping people is pretty great too. Thanks for doing this.
    Dec 05, 2015
  • Anthony Di Franco
    Anthony Di FrancoResearcher
    Thanks Brandon! Agreed. Now on to the actual work.
    Dec 05, 2015
  • Met Fraser
    Met FraserBacker
    I'm a now-disabled pharmacy technician, and I remember seeing my patients struggle to pay for their insulin every month due to high copays or the high outright cost of it. Lantus is apparently OTC, but the cash price is ridiculous on it. It's even worse if your pet is diabetic and needs insulin too; I now volunteer with sick cats, and my own big fear is that my cats will develop diabetes and need insulin, which will be definitely cost prohibitive on a fixed income. The work you are doing is absolutely necessary and amazing, and I cannot thank you enough. I wish you all the best in your endeavors and hope my donation helps you in your research and in getting through the FDA's approval process.
    Dec 03, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    Thank you! Really appreciate the encouragement and support.
    Dec 03, 2015
  • Maria Chavez
    Maria ChavezResearcher
    This is absolutely why we feel so passionate about this project. It seems like every year medication prices are rising and there isnt anything easy the average person can do. After alot of discussion in the BioHacking community we decided to tackle the problem head on. We dug into the research some of our group has been doing on getting biosimiliars approved by the FDA. We also hope our project will raise awareness and promote advocacy for lower prices in general.
    Dec 03, 2015
  • Helen C Chambers
    Helen C Chambers
    Maria, how does one find the members of the BioHacking community who don't get coverage from the Wall Street Journal? I want to help.
    Dec 06, 2018
  • Will Fullindifference
    Will FullindifferenceBacker
    If you can pull this off, then you need to start your own company that does nothing but create "generic" drugs at lower prices.
    Dec 01, 2015
  • Maria Chavez
    Maria ChavezResearcher
    One thing at a time. We have a pretty ambitious vision for this project and need to take it one step at a time but we appreciate your support and enthusiasm for our project!
    Dec 02, 2015
  • Julie Riess
    Julie RiessBacker
    Let's do this!
    Nov 30, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    That's the plan! Thanks for the support!
    Nov 30, 2015
  • Victor Ferreira
    Victor FerreiraBacker
    Brick by brick, we can make a more open science and society. Good luck with your efforts!
    Nov 27, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    Thank you so much for your support!
    Nov 27, 2015
  • Antonio Lamb
    Antonio Lamb
    Hey! I have a similar study, but I am trying to express synthetic proinsulin in microalgae instead of bacteria as a proof-of-concept. I was curious if you guys might want to collaborate. My campaign isn't live yet but I'd be happy to tell you more about it over email.
    Nov 26, 2015
  • Antonio Lamb
    Antonio Lamb
    Hey! I have a similar study, but I am trying to express synthetic proinsulin in microalgae instead of bacteria as a proof-of-concept. I was curious if you guys might want to collaborate. My campaign isn't live yet but I'd be happy to tell you more about it over email.
    Nov 26, 2015
  • Maria Chavez
    Maria ChavezResearcher
    Hey Antonio! I had no idea we should absolutely talk about some kind of collaboration. When will you next be at BioCurious? Shoot me and Patrik an email about your work. You can join in via web chat to our Open Insulin meetings on Wednesday nights at 7pm if you'd like. Very cool.
    Nov 26, 2015
  • Anthony Di Franco
    Anthony Di FrancoResearcher
    Yes please do join a meeting or otherwise get in touch! We should collaborate in any appropriate way.
    Nov 26, 2015
  • Karim Ghanem
    Karim GhanemBacker
    Keep going guys, thanks for your hard work. I view this as an important first step in dismantling the oligarchy that is the diabetes treatment industry
    Nov 26, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    Thank you! Yes, we are hopeful that patient led efforts can help improve and lower the cost of diabetes care.
    Nov 26, 2015
  • Mathilda Robertsson
    Mathilda RobertssonBacker
    This is so great! I really hope for some good results :)
    Nov 26, 2015
  • Maria Chavez
    Maria ChavezResearcher
    Thank you for backing our project! We are working hard to get the first results, and even had our regular weekly team meeting last night, instead of taking a break this week.
    Nov 26, 2015
  • Craig Simpson
    Craig SimpsonBacker
    Make it happen! :)
    Nov 20, 2015
  • Maria Chavez
    Maria ChavezResearcher
    Working on it! Thank you for backing the project.
    Nov 20, 2015
  • David Ryal Anderson
    David Ryal AndersonBacker
    I back any project with another David Anderson on the Team. Also, I love Omni Commons and try to support all of the collectives housed there.
    Nov 20, 2015
  • Maria Chavez
    Maria ChavezResearcher
    Thank you for the support, we couldnt do anything with a grass roots community effort to try and make ambitious like this happen!
    Nov 20, 2015
  • Damian Hayden
    Damian Hayden
    TBH, this project is confusing. Instructions for making insulin is well documented by patents. It's what patents are for. A manufacturer would team up with a pharma company anyway to test and develop a manufacturing process, since the latter would be needed to market the generic. It's unclear what counter culture labs would enable outside of the regular business of biogenerics?
    Nov 19, 2015
  • Anthony Di Franco
    Anthony Di FrancoResearcher
    We saw an opportunity to use more modern techniques than the very complex ones covered by patents and run at global scale by large companies. We hope to make production much simpler and possible at smaller scales. We are aware that with the recent expiration of the latest round of patents there is some work going on to make generics through the usual channels but we would like to enable progress at smaller scales as well, to provide more opportunities for success and more of a basis for a truly competitive market and broader participation in research into new variants. Also, while one function of patents is ostensibly to provide others with documentation they can use to reproduce work, in practice a lot of wisdom needed to make a technique work is not in the documentation and must be re-discovered by trial and error. We are trying to produce techniques that come with this wisdom included in the documentation from the start. I certainly would not mind a bit if another group succeeded in bringing generic insulin to market faster, as that would save many lives. We are trying to broaden the field of who can participate and contribute in addition to looking at the narrower goal, and contributing what we can from our situation.
    Nov 19, 2015
  • Anthony Di Franco
    Anthony Di FrancoResearcher
    Also, waiting for things to happen through established channels has a long record of disappointing diabetes patients, and generic insulin has been technically feasible for most of its century long history, but still hasn't come to market, so part of our motivation is finding ways to take the initiative. Look into the "we are not waiting" slogan to see more of this conversation: https://twitter.com/search?q=%23WeAreNotWaiting&src=hash
    Nov 19, 2015
  • Christopher Busch
    Christopher BuschBacker
    Been type 1 diabetic since I was 7 years old, im now 32 and in good shape. I have heard many things proposed over the years mostly for type 2. This hopefully will help me and those like me. I didn't have medical coverage for 4 years and it was hard. After this maybe we can get to work on fixing my stupid pancreas that doesn't want to do its job. Stupid lazy pancreas. lol :D
    Nov 19, 2015
  • Maria Chavez
    Maria ChavezResearcher
    We agree that the cost of medication for diabetics is too high, and working to find a protocol for a generic form is just one part of the puzzle. Thank you for backing our project!
    Nov 19, 2015
  • Robert Immormino
    Robert ImmorminoBacker
    DiFranco get in touch sometime. I've got family that works in outsourced lab management, and federal regulations who may be able to help with your project. I'd also be very interested to talk to you about the science.
    Nov 19, 2015
  • Anthony Di Franco
    Anthony Di FrancoResearcher
    Good to hear from you! Just sent you an email.
    Nov 19, 2015
  • Robert Cook
    Robert CookBacker
    Hello, developing world. Also, this will be good in case civilization grinds to a halt. You can bury only so much insulin.
    Nov 18, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    I always figured once the zombie apocalypse comes mad scientist could be a great new job. Thanks for your support!
    Nov 18, 2015
  • Randy Bolton
    Randy Bolton
    It's been proven that when a fruit is blended (juiced or pureed), that this separates the sugar from the fiber and is bad for you. This is one reason why juice often makes people fat. I noticed the other day that almost ALL baby foods are pureed. I never noticed this before, but this must mean that baby food is terrible for babies and gives them sugar spikes from day one. Any thoughts?
    Nov 14, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    Thank you for your support of our project! I don't really know much about baby food, but I think it is pureed because babies don't have teeth.
    Nov 15, 2015
  • Anthony Di Franco
    Anthony Di FrancoResearcher
    I don't know anything about this one way or the other, but it seems like a good question for someone to investigate. We've got our hands more than full with making insulin right now though. Maybe have a look at the research index on PubMed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
    Nov 15, 2015
  • Christopher Stahnke
    Christopher StahnkeBacker
    I have many family members and friends who are insulin dependent, and I know that their costs are extremely high. I'm at high risk for diabetes myself, and I'm afraid of the costs under the current system. A project like this is exactly what we need to help these people get affordable life saving medication.
    Nov 12, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    Thank you so much for your support and the kind words! I totally agree that the costs of diabetes needs to come down.
    Nov 13, 2015
  • Brian C Beard
    Brian C BeardBacker
    Such an important project for developing countries where diabetes is increasing dramatically.
    Nov 12, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    Thank you for your support! Yes, diabetes in many countries die needlessly. My father has type 1 diabetes. It's troubling to think that I would not be alive if he had grown up elsewhere.
    Nov 12, 2015
  • Maribeth Chadwell
    Maribeth ChadwellBacker
    I'm an insulin user and have been frustrated by the lack of a generic. Good luck with this project.
    Nov 12, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    Thank you so much. We're really excited to get started :)
    Nov 12, 2015
  • Zoran Knezevic
    Zoran KnezevicBacker
    I am totally surprised that 'generic insulin' does not exist. What about clinical trials? How much money is really needed to make it available to general public.
    Nov 11, 2015
  • Sasha Nealand
    Sasha NealandResearcher
    Great question Zoran, the idea here is just to come up with and verify a non-patented procedure to produce generic insulin that other companies can then use.
    Nov 11, 2015
  • Anthony Di Franco
    Anthony Di FrancoResearcher
    As Sasha said, we're developing a protocol that a generic producer could later go on to use. There is a streamlined approval process for such drugs but it's out of our scope and we can't speak to that part of the process. Look into "biosimilars" if you'd like to learn more. For more about the lack of generic insulin, see here: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMms1411398 Why Is There No Generic Insulin? Historical Origins of a Modern Problem Jeremy A. Greene, M.D., Ph.D., and Kevin R. Riggs, M.D., M.P.H. March 19, 2015 N Engl J Med 2015; 372:1171-1175
    Nov 11, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/841669 This is a good article explaining why there is not a generic form of insulin. Basically, it takes scientific research to develop a biosimilar drug. Because there are some versions of synthetic insulin available that are preferable for those with insurance no one wants to do the research to develop basic insulin preferable to people struggling to afford their medication.
    Nov 11, 2015
  • Denny Luan
    Denny LuanBacker
    Congrats on reaching the goal so early!
    Nov 11, 2015
  • Anthony Di Franco
    Anthony Di FrancoResearcher
    Thanks for the congratulations and your help with the project! We're really looking forward to talking this project as far as we can and it's quite encouraging to see all this support come in so quickly.
    Nov 11, 2015
  • Rich Lee
    Rich LeeBacker
    Awesome project. Way to go CCL!
    Nov 11, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    Thanks for your support!
    Nov 11, 2015
  • Andrew Gray
    Andrew GrayBacker
    way to go guys!!! How about a stretch goal that allows supporters to press a button that plays a whip cracking sound on your end as well as maybe some live streaming of when you're in the lab? I know you guys probably won't be in the Lab 24/7 but setting up either a periscope account or a twitch feed or any other live broadcast would be really good exposure for you guys and fun for the backers. It would be also fairly easy to implement with little to no man hour requirements.
    Nov 11, 2015
  • Anthony Di Franco
    Anthony Di FrancoResearcher
    That's an interesting idea. We'd not be likely to pose for the camera too much but we can discuss at our next meeting.
    Nov 11, 2015
  • Jon-Pal Gagnum
    Jon-Pal GagnumBacker
    Congrats on the funding guys! Onwards and upwards! Get some stretch goals out :)
    Nov 11, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    We're working on it :D Thanks for the support!
    Nov 11, 2015
  • Zoran Knezevic
    Zoran KnezevicBacker
    Guys if this is not a prank it is amazing what you try to do on a such a limited funds. I cannot believe that so little is needed to move things from ground 0.
    Nov 09, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    Thanks for backing us! We are entirely serious :D but we also have a lot of support from a lot of people. People have donated lab equipment, helped to fix broken machines, procured scientific papers, given us reagents, etc. doing this has taught me how much can be accomplished when you are open to fully utilizing the talents of your entire community.
    Nov 09, 2015
  • Sasha Nealand
    Sasha NealandResearcher
    Thanks very much! As Maureen says, the project is entirely sincere!
    Nov 09, 2015
  • Anthony Di Franco
    Anthony Di FrancoResearcher
    The small budget is mainly because we decided to start raising funds with the minimum possible work that would represent meaningful progress toward our broader goals. Since we've had such a strong response and will likely meet that goal very soon we're working to get a more detailed budget together for stretch goals to bring more progress within our reach. Thanks for your support!
    Nov 09, 2015
  • Sam Wigman
    Sam WigmanBacker
    Boomshakalaka!
    Nov 08, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    💃🏻💉😎
    Nov 09, 2015
  • Matthew Markus
    Matthew MarkusBacker
    This is exciting!
    Nov 05, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    We're really excited too! Thanks so much for your support!
    Nov 09, 2015
  • Mekki MacAulay
    Mekki MacAulayBacker
    Amazing stuff! I'll be using you as an example of open source beyond software in my research papers and conference presentations! :) @mekki / http://mekki.ca
    Nov 05, 2015
  • Maureen Muldavin
    Maureen MuldavinResearcher
    Thanks Mekki! Appreciate the support!
    Nov 05, 2015
  • Christina Tran
    Christina TranBacker
    This is such an amazing project! Good luck! 🔬
    Nov 04, 2015
  • Anthony Di Franco
    Anthony Di FrancoResearcher
    Thanks for the support Christina! We're excited about the possibilities too.
    Nov 04, 2015