discovery of insulin

Abstract

Introduction The discovery of insulin is a landmark of medical history: it introduced life-saving treatment for a previously fatal disease and brought hope to millions. The research studies of Banting and Best in Toronto during the summer of 1921 have been recounted many times over. So also have the later contributions of Collip and Macleod, leading to refinements of the pancreatic extracts and their successful administration to Leonard Thompson in January of 1922.1 The award of the Nobel Prize and the commercialisation of insulin are also well rehearsed postscripts to the discovery story, but comparatively little consideration has been accorded to events of the late 1800s and early 1900s that led up to the work in Toronto: these events are focused upon here.