Perhaps the days of painful injections are over. inhaled insulin, which allows diabetics to absorb life-crucial insulin through breathing rather than injection, has gained popularity for good reason. Who wouldn't rather skip the pain and inconvenience of injections if possible?

Dr Marie-Claire Parker of Scotland has revolutionized this new product, inventing a way to coat tiny air particles with insulin molecules. She was recently recognized for her achievement.

Dr Parker has developed a micro-crystal which can be coated with tiny particles of insulin.

She said: "What we do is make particles which are not unlike Lego bricks, but obviously reduced down to a very small size - about 1,000th the width of a human hair."

She said they were "very stable" and very resistant to conditions like high temperature and humidity, which made them easy to store.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh's Gannochy Trust Innovation Award is described as Scotland's highest accolade for individual achievement in innovation.

Thank you, Dr Parker!

(Image Source: National Innovation)