In this video, we're going to do a review and talk about the application of DNA cloning in medicine. And so now that we've discussed the techniques used in DNA cloning, let's see how they're all used together in this application of DNA cloning in medicine. Now diabetics actually do not produce enough insulin protein to metabolize blood glucose, and these diabetics require daily injections of insulin. Now researchers have found a way to use transgenic organisms in order to mass produce insulin for these diabetic patients that need these daily injections. And so, down below in our example image, we're going to talk about how human insulin protein is expressed and purified in large amounts using transgenic E. coli, transgenic bacteria. So, we're focusing on the cloning of the human insulin gene.
Now, of course, in the first step of DNA cloning, we know that we need to make the recombinant DNA. And so, we're going to take the bacterial plasmid here from the E. coli bacterium, and we're going to take the human gene, the insulin gene, and we're going to create a recombinant DNA molecule using restriction enzymes and DNA ligase. And then once the recombinant DNA has been made, it can be used as a cloning vector to be inserted into the bacteria. And so, the bacteria is going to be transformed with the recombinant plasmid. And so now, this bacteria contains a human insulin gene, making this organism a transgenic organism. And then, this bacterium with the transformed plasmid is just going to replicate normally via its normal replication process, creating a bunch of bacteria. And each of these bacteria is going to have a copy of the recombinant DNA. And because they have this gene, this human insulin gene, these bacteria are going to be reproducing and cloning the human insulin gene, and they'll be able to actually express the human insulin gene.
And so, we have bacteria that are the human insulin gene. And the cloned insulin genes can be used for other experiments. And the human insulin hormone, the protein that's being expressed, that's created by the bacteria, it can also be extracted and purified, and that insulin can be given to diabetic individuals to help those patients. And so, what we're seeing here is that cloning the human insulin gene does have medical applications.
This here concludes our brief introduction to the application of DNA cloning in medicine and completes our review. And so, we'll be able to get some practice applying these concepts as we move forward in our course. So, I'll see you all in our next video.