IIT Guwahati secures patent for innovative insulin production system

GUWAHATI: Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati  researchers has developed a new method to produce human insulin using a safe and efficient bacterial system called Pseudomonas fluorescens. The team is led by Dr. Veeranki Venkata Dasu, Professor and former Head, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Former Dean Students Affairs, and Former Director, RGUKT, Nuzvid. This breakthrough could play a significant role in making insulin more affordable and accessible. Further, the team consists of Ansuman Sahoo, Prabir Kumar Das, Dr. MSRC Murthy, and Prof. Sanjukta Patra.

The developed technology has been granted two Indian patents (Patent No. 568947, Application No. 202431045821. Date of Grant: 22-07-2025; Patent No. 536416, Application No. 202331058235. Date of Grant: 01.05.24). The findings of this research have been published in the prestigious journals including International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, and Journal of Biotechnology.

In recent times, Diabetes has become one of the most common health issues, affecting over 537 million adults worldwide. As per the International Diabetes Federation, by the year 2050, one in eight adults will have diabetes. For patients, particularly those with type 1 and many with type 2 diabetes, insulin is a life-saving hormone. Despite Insulin’s widespread demand globally, the current methods of producing insulin are costly and often inefficient, resulting in low output and a cost-intensive purification process.

Speaking about the research, Prof. Veeranki Venkata Dasu, lead author of the research, said,  “Creating a novel expression system for manufacturing insulin is one of the solutions. A bioprocess technology is developed using Genetic, Metabolic and Biochemical Engineering approaches for recombinant human insulin production using Pseudomonas fluorescens, a BSL-1 microorganism. The developed expression system is not only capable of insulin production but also opens an avenue to produce other therapeutic proteins as well as industrial enzymes.”

The study marks the first successful demonstration of human insulin production using Pseudomonas fluorescens. With this approach, the researchers were able to produce insulin in a soluble form, reducing the need for complicated purification steps and minimizing production costs, stated a press release.

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