Library:Library Research Skills For Biologists/Module 2/Page 02

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Over the summer and fall of 1921, Banting and Best conducted experiments to isolate the internal secretion from animal pancreas. By administering the extract to diabetic dogs, they had some success at lowering blood sugar levels and keeping the dogs alive. In December, they were joined by J.B. Collip a biochemist from the University of Alberta, who was better able to purify the extract. In January 1922, they successfully administered Collip's precipitate to a 14-year-old patient at Toronto General Hospital. The story of the discovery of insulin is fascinating, and you can read about it in The Discovery of Insulin (Bliss 1982). The aim here is to describe how scholarly research is communicated to the scientific community. Before anything is published, original research is often shared through INFORMAL COMMUNICATION with colleagues in order to benefit from the feedback of others in the field. This situation is often known as the invisible college and in Banting's time would have occurred in person or by mail. Today, email, blogs and other social media are important communication tools for scientists.

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