Insulin Discovered: Diabetes Treatment Breakthrough
Frederick Banting announced insulin at the University of Toronto in 1922. He was 30, a failed surgeon with no research experience. His lab partner was a 21-year-old medical student. They'd kept a diabetic dog alive for 70 days with pancreatic extracts. Six weeks after the announcement, they injected a 14-year-old boy dying in a Toronto hospital. Leonard Thompson's blood sugar dropped from fatal to normal in 24 hours. Before insulin, type 1 diabetes was a death sentence within months.
February 11, 1869
157 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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