Specialists from the Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS and the company Masterclone have developed an effective method to obtain a gene-engineered human growth hormone. The hormone produces bacteria of the colon bacillus, in which the corresponding gene is introduced.

Taking human growth hormone preparations significantly increases the growth of patients that suffer from growth and weight deficiency. However, it is fairly expensive to obtain the protein, and a considerable amount of it is needed. The Russian scientists set about establishing the domestic production of the growth hormone. Manipulations with the colon bacillus work out cheapest of all and the scientists turned one of its strains, taken from the Institute’s collection, into a highly effective producer. To this end a synthesized, artificial human growth hormone gene was introduced to the bacteria. They then developed an effective means to extract the protein from the bacterial cells and purify it.

The new preparation, called Rastan, has successfully passed preclinical and clinical trials. They showed the efficiency and the safety of the preparation. The Russian preparation Rastan is recommended for treating children who suffer from growth hormone deficiency and for patients suffering from Shereshevsky-Turner syndrome.