Learn a little of Toronto's history as told through its plaques.
The Discovery of Insulin
Photos by Alan L Brown - April 2004
On the outside wall of the Medical Sciences Building, here at 1 King's College Circle at the University of Toronto, are the English and French versions of an Ontario Heritage Foundation plaque describing Banting and Best's momentous discovery. Here's what it says:
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.
Plaque Location Co-ordinates: 43.661247 -79.393714
Related Toronto plaque pages
Sir Frederick Banting
John James Rickard Macleod
Related Ontario plaque page
Banting House
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