Peptide History beginner
History of Insulin Discovery
Tracing the discovery and development of insulin from Banting and Best to modern analogs.
By Encyclopeptide Editorial | 1 min read
insulin history diabetes hormone
Overview
The discovery of insulin in 1921 by Frederick Banting and Charles Best at the University of Toronto transformed diabetes from a fatal diagnosis into a manageable condition.
Key Milestones
- 1869: Paul Langerhans describes pancreatic islet cells
- 1889: Minkowski and von Mering link pancreas to diabetes
- 1921: Banting and Best isolate insulin from dog pancreas
- 1922: First human injection of insulin
- 1923: Banting and Macleod win Nobel Prize
- 1955: Frederick Sanger sequences insulin
- 1963: First synthetic insulin produced
- 1982: Recombinant human insulin approved (Humulin)
Impact
Insulin was the first peptide hormone to be isolated, sequenced, and produced recombinantly. It set the precedent for all subsequent peptide therapeutic development.
References
- Source: ENCP Peptide Database
- Category: Peptide History
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