This document discusses the production of human insulin using recombinant DNA technology. It begins by providing background on insulin and diabetes. Insulin is normally produced in the pancreas but some people do not produce enough. Recombinant DNA technology allows for the insertion of the human insulin gene into E. coli bacteria. The bacteria then produce human insulin which can be purified from cell cultures. This was the first pharmaceutical produced using recombinant DNA and was approved for diabetes treatment in 1982 under the name Humulin. The document details the cloning of the insulin gene, production in E. coli, purification downstream processing, and advantages of using this system.