The Discovery Of Insulin Charles H. Best, who discovered insulin
with orthopedic surgeon Frederick Banting, was born on this date
in 1899. Best and Banting isolated insulin, a pancreatic hormone
that monitors blood glucose, while the former was still a
medical student at the University of Toronto Medical School. The
researchers then used that discovery to improve treatment for
diabetes. In 1925, Banting and another researcher, J.J. Macleod,
won the Nobel Prize for discovering insulin. But Banting shared
half of his cash award with Best, and Macleod divided his
portion with J.B. Collip, a chemist who helped him purify
insulin for drug trials in humans. Best became head of the
physiology department at the University of Toronto in 1929. He
died in 1978. Copyright Aetna InteliHealth, Inc., 2013. All
rights reserved.