Research was then conducted on humans and soon after this hormone was the most sought after hormone in science. Being able to determine a chemicals three-dimensional shape helps scientist determine the way it functions in the human body. Knowing this chemicals shape aides in better research. Insulin has a rather complicated shape and was the first protein to be crystallized in its pure form. Every protein has its own construction of amino acids put together in peptide chains.
Human insulin consists of two different peptide chains.
There is what's known as the A chain and the B chain. A which stands for acidic and the B chain is basic. Disulfide bridges connect these two peptide chains. Once a proteins sequence is known it is possible to duplicate this sequence. This became a source of creating A and B chains.