During the artificial synthesis of human insulin by Eli Lilly, the A and B chains were produced separately and extracted. Which type of linkage was artificially created between these extracted chains to form active mature insulin?

Step-by-step solution

In 1983, Eli Lilly, an American company, prepared two DNA sequences corresponding to the A and B chains of human insulin and introduced them into plasmids of E. coli to produce insulin chains. Chains A and B were produced separately, extracted, and combined by creating disulfide bonds to form active mature human insulin. Therefore, the linkage artificially created between the extracted chains is the disulfide bond. Answer: Disulfide bond