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Insulin: A 100-Year-Old Discovery With a Fascinating History.
William Rostène1, Pierre De Meyts2,3
1Sorbonne Université, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, F-75012 Paris, France.
Endocrine Reviews
|July 17, 2021
Summary
The discovery of insulin revolutionized diabetes treatment 100 years ago. This historical perspective details the journey from understanding diabetes pathology to the successful isolation and therapeutic use of insulin.
Area of Science:
- Endocrinology
- Medical History
Background:
- Diabetes mellitus has ancient origins, with early research focusing on the pancreas and its role in disease pathology.
- The discovery of the islets of Langerhans in 1869 and the Minkowski-von Mering experiment in 1889 highlighted the pancreas's critical link to diabetes.
Observation:
- Early attempts to isolate a diabetes-treating substance from pancreatic extracts were hampered by toxicity.
- Frederick Banting, Charles Best, James Collip, and John Macleod successfully developed therapeutic pancreatic extracts.
Findings:
- The isolation of insulin provided the first effective treatment for diabetes, saving countless lives.
- The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Banting and Macleod in 1923 for this groundbreaking discovery.
Implications:
- The discovery of insulin transformed diabetes from a fatal disease to a manageable condition.
- Subsequent research focused on the commercial development and purification of insulin, paving the way for widespread clinical use.
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