The history of the Nobel prize for the discovery of insulin

Abstract

In 2021 we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin, which 1923 was awarded with a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Banting and MacLeod. The development of insulin was foregone by an interesting piece of medical history starting with the first known mentioning of a disease resembling diabetes about 1550 BCE in Eberś papyrus. The Indian physician Charaka made the first reference to the sweetness of the urine about 280 BCE while the connection of the sweet taste of urine with an excess of sugar in the blood remained undescribed until 1776 when Dobson published his first experience on this subject. Langerhans description of "islands of clear cells" in the pancreatic gland was of great importance when published 1869. The first connection of pancreas to diabetes was made by Lancereaux 1877. The experiments 1890 by Minkowski and von Mering, depriving dogs of pancreas, noting that they died with symptoms of diabetes was another step forward. A first attempt to isolate pancreatic extract by means of which blood glucose could be normalized in dogs with diabetes was described by Paulescu, but his experiments, interrupted by the First World War, never became acknowledged to the extent that they probably should have been. Instead, it was Banting, who supported by Best, made the experiments that proved that an extract from the Langerhans' islands could keep dogs with diabetes alive for several months in the laboratory of MacLeod. This extract, purified by Collip, saved the life of people dying by diabetes for the first time in January 1922. The discovery of insulin was made in 1921 and the Nobel prize was awarded to Banting and MacLeod already 1923. The correct choice of laureates has, however, been debated. Banting shared his prize money with Best who helped him with the experiments and MacLeod shared his part with Collip who purified the extract. The question arises, who was actually the person discovering insulin and did the right person get the prize? Further insights on this question are revealed via the archives of the Nobel Assembly of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Keywords: Discovery; History; Insulin; Laureates; Nobel Prize; Nominations.