Library:WD/ScholarlyCommunication/TheInvisibleCollege InsulinExample
The insulin experiment
On October 30, 1920, Frederick Banting, a young surgeon in London, Ontario was reading an article in preparation for a lecture he was going to give the next day about carbohydrate metabolism. After reading the article, Banting had an IDEA of how the internal secretion might be isolated. He presented his idea to J.J.R. MacLeod, a physiologist at the University of Toronto, and in the spring of 1921, Banting joined MacLeod's lab and began research with the help of a fourth year student, Charles Best.
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 more about it in The Discovery of Insulin (Bliss 1982)[1].
Credits:
[2]
Credits:
- ↑ Bliss, M. 1982. The discovery of insulin. McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, Ont..
- ↑ Banting, F.G., Best, C.H., Collip, J.B., Campbell, W.R., and Fletcher, A.A. 1922. Pancreatic Extracts in the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus. Canadian Medical Association journal, 12 (3): 141-146