Biotechnology, Using Biotechnology For Diabetes

Introduction

I chose to do my research task on the new treatment possibilities, using biotechnology, for Diabetes, as I am a Type 1 Diabetic and have been for nine years.

Diabetes has been around for 2000 years. Over the years there has been a vast improvement in treatments which are still ongoing to this day. In the 17th century, diagnoses were done through urine tests and one was diagnosed if one’s urine was sweet. In the 20th century, doctors would advise patients to go on radical diets of less than 450 calories per day. In 1921 insulin was finally discovered.

The insulin was taken through prehistoric syringes. Today one has a wide variety of different ways to take insulin, ranging from numerous pens to pumps and state of the art glucose metres. Thanks to innovative scientists, this constantly improving technology not only ensures one’s life but also makes this disease easier to manage and more bearable.

The research question for this task is: Is new technology readily being made available to the public? My hypothesis is that new technology is not being made readily available to the public.

Therefore the aim is to investigate new avenues of research, provide diabetics with information on new treatments, their availability, and developing technology in order to one day, hopefully, provide a cure for diabetes.

This report is a mix of primary research (through surveys on diabetics and interviews with doctors and diabetic specialists) and secondary research (through the research of current and developing technology and treatment. Through this research I aim to raise awareness of new technology and treatment for diabetes which may not be filtering through to the public rapidly enough (perhaps as a result of monopolies held by certa...

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...rrent stage of research in order to provide them with hope for finding a cure for diabetes.

Through my research I discovered various different research programmes in finding a cure or alternate treatment for diabetes such as stem cell transplants and the reverse vaccine are still in the trial phase but they are receiving positive results. Taking the responses from my surveys into account, it was evident that the diabetics are unaware of these ongoing research projects and do not know of any new or developing treatment and technology.

Therefore my question of whether new technology is being readily made available to the public was answered and proved my hypothesis correct, that new technology is not being made readily available to the public, due to the fact that practitioners are aware of the ongoing research while the diabetic patients are uninformed and unaware.