The Discovery of Insulin

Photo by Alan L Brown - April 25, 2004

Plaque Location

The City of Toronto
On the outside wall of the Medical Sciences Building, King's College Circle, University of Toronto

Plaque Text

In one of the most important advances in modern medicine, a team of investigators isolated and purified insulin in a building which stood on this site. On May 17, 1921, Frederick Banting, a young surgeon, and Charles Best, a recent graduate in physiology and biochemistry, began a series of experiments on pancreatic secretions in an attempt to find a treatment for "diabetes mellitus". Working under the general direction of J.J.R. Macleod, an expert in carbohydrate metabolism, they developed a promising anti-diabetic extract. James Collip, a noted biochemist, then increased the purity and potency of the substance. With the first successful clinical test of insulin on a human diabetic on January 23, 1922, Banting, Best, Macleod and Collip ensured prolonged lives for millions of diabetics throughout the world.

Here's More
Information

Related page from my torontohistory.org website:
Sir Frederick Banting 1891-1941

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