Useful protein drugs, such as insulin, must still be administered by the cumbersome
procedure of injection under the skin. If proteins are taken orally, they are digested and
cannot reach their target cells. Certain non protein drugs, however, contain chemical bonds
that are not broken down by the digestive system. They can, thus, be taken orally.

The statements above most strongly support a claim that a research procedure that
successfully accomplishes which of the following would be beneficial to users of protein
drugs?

a) Coating insulin with compounds that are broken down by target cells, but whose chemical bonds are resistant to digestion
b) Converting into protein compounds, by procedures that work in the laboratory, the nonprotein drugs that resist digestion
c) Removing permanently from the digestive system any substances that digest proteins
d) Determining, in a systematic way, what enzymes and bacteria are present in the normal digestive system and whether they tend to be broken down within the body
e) Determining the amount of time each nonprotein drug takes to reach its target cells.