8,000 Pounds of Pancreas for One Pound of Insulin: When Bacteria Started Making Human Insulin (1972 to 1982)
In 1972 two scientists sketched a plan on deli napkins. Ten years later, bacteria were making human insulin, the first medicine made with recombinant DNA. The story, the honest part, and three ideas you can use.
300,000 Brains for One Milligram: The Race to Find the Brain’s Hormones (1969 to 1977)
Two rival labs worked through millions of sheep and pig brains to decode the hormones your brain sends your pituitary. The race, the physicist who learned to measure them, today's medicines and their limits, and three ideas you can use.