Type 1 diabetes used to mean certain death until the discovery of insulin, for which Frederick Banting and John Macleod were awarded the Nobel prize in 1923. But Banting was furious because he felt Macleod was undeserving. Macleod, his boss, had once taken over an important presentation from the nervous Banting. He also arranged for Banting to work with honors student Charles Best, who was hurt by being excluded from the Nobel prize. Other researchers such as German doctor Georg Zuelzer and Romanian scientist Nicolae Paulescu were overlooked for their work on insulin. In 1978, a team of scientists announced that human insulin could be used instead of cow or pig insulin. Nonetheless, type 1 diabetes remains an incurable chronic condition.
Key Takeaways:
- Banting had just been awarded the Nobel prize for his discovery of insulin.
- According to a recent World Health Organization report, about 9 million people with type 1 diabetes are alive today thanks to insulin.
- Best was himself asked whether researchers such as Paulescu, Zuelzer, and a handful of others such as the Rockefeller scientist Israel Kleiner, deserved any credit for the discovery of insulin, his rep
“Banting told his friend to “go to hell” and slammed the receiver down.”
