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leeches for diabetics

breed a type of leech that is symbiotic with diabetics
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Somehow genetically engineer or breed a leech that while it "feeds" on its diabetic host, it also provides a service, such as making insulin that it can inject into its host, or even just being there as a pincushion for frequent blood tests.
mhh5, Sep 06 2002

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       Ooh, them first three words, mhh5...
General Washington, Sep 06 2002
  

       Leeches suck, not inject.
DrCurry, Sep 06 2002
  

       OK!! let's have leeches that do blood tests! just feed them with the appropriate reagent first & they can change color. Most leeches are completely painless to the victim.
pfperry, Sep 06 2002
  

       This is not a bad idea per se, and didn't deserve the initial fishbones.   

       Plants and animals can be genetically modified to produce anitbodies and other complex molecules. This has been demonstrated.   

       Leeches do inject a highly efficient anti- coagulant into their hosts.   

       It is therefore possible to envisage a genetically modified leech that incorporates a medication into its saliva, and produces it in inordinate qualntities.   

       Quid pro quo. The leech gets a blood meal; the host gets freshly-synthesised medication.   

       Leeches are already bred and used in sterile conditions for cosmetic surgery purposes.
8th of 7, Dec 21 2013
  

       I'm not sure I'd call the celebrity world "sterile", though one would hope.
FlyingToaster, Dec 21 2013
  

       The unfortunate leeches are microbiologically sterile; it's the celebrities that are usually poisonous …
8th of 7, Dec 21 2013
  
      
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