Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington, DC                        June 3, 1998
(Phone:  202/358-1979)

Steve Roy
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
(Phone:  205/544-0034)

RELEASE:  98-95

SPACE GROWN INSULIN CRYSTALS PROVIDE NEW DATA ON DIABETES

     Diabetic patients may someday reduce their insulin injections 
and lead more normal lives because of new insights gained through 
innovative space research in which the largest insulin crystals 
ever studied were grown on the Space Shuttle.

     Results from a 1994 insulin crystal growth experiment in 
space are leading to a new understanding of diabetes -- a hormone 
deficiency disease.  This has the potential to significantly 
reduce expensive treatments, since treatment of diabetes accounts 
for one-seventh of the nations health care costs.  Sixteen 
million Americans suffer from hormone deficiency diseases such as 
diabetes, hepatic failure, hemophilia, Parkinson's and Huntington 
diseases.

     "The space-grown insulin crystals have provided us new, 
never-before-seen information," said Dr. G. David Smith, scientist 
at Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, Buffalo, NY.  "As 
a result, we now have a much more detailed picture of insulin," 
Smith said.  

     Because of the increase in crystal size, Smith's team is able 
to study in more detail the delicate balance of the insulin 
molecule.  Natural insulin molecules hold together and gradually 
release into the human body.  With some of the new and unexpected 
findings, researchers may be able to improve how insulin is 
released from its inactive-stored state to its active state.  This 
could greatly improve the quality-of-life of people on insulin 
therapy by cutting down on the number of injections they have to 
take. 

     "This new information can be used in the development of a new 
therapeutic insulin treatment for the control of diabetes," said 
Smith.

     Hauptman-Woodward is partnering with the Center for 
Macromolecular Crystallography, a NASA Commercial Space Center in 
Birmingham, AL. 

     "We are doing crystal growth experiments in the near-
weightlessness of space that really tell the story of how insulin 
works and give us clues of how, in the long run, to defeat 
diabetes," said Dr. Marianna M. Long, associate director of the 
center located at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

     Insulin is one of the most important hormones in the human 
body because it regulates the bodys blood sugar levels.  In 
people with diabetes, insulin is not produced in sufficient 
quantity, nor regulated properly.  This metabolism disorder 
impairs the bodys ability to use digested food for growth and 
energy.  

     Like many chemicals in the body, the three-dimensional 
structure of insulin is extremely complex.  The intricate, 
blueprint-like arrangement of atoms within the insulin molecule 
determines how well the hormone interacts within the body.  When 
grown on the ground, insulin crystals do not grow as large or as 
ordered as researchers desire -- obscuring the blueprint of the 
insulin molecules.

     The center in Birmingham is one of NASAs 10 Commercial Space 
Centers managed by the Space Product Development Office within the 
Microgravity Research Program Office at NASAs Marshall Space 
Flight Center in Huntsville, AL.  Each center represents a NASA 
partnership with industry and academia, pursuing product-oriented 
research in areas such as biotechnology, agriculture and 
materials.  Unique research opportunities of the space environment 
are made available to encourage private industries to exploit the 
benefits of space-based research to develop new products or 
services.

     NASA research has furthered the understanding of many 
diseases, including AIDS, heart disease, cancer, respiratory 
syncytial virus, sickle cell anemia, hepatitis and rheumatoid 
arthritis.

                       - end -

Note to Editors:  Interviews with NASA, industry and university 
researchers are available via telephone, NASA TV live satellite 
link or e-mail.  Please contact NASA representative Steve Roy at 
the Marshall Media Relations Office at 256/544-6535.

More information about NASA Space Products Development Office is 
available on the World Wide Web at:  
http://microgravity.msfc.nasa.gov/MICROGRAVITY/SPD.html