1. Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin in the 1920s while experimenting with pancreatic extracts from dogs at the University of Toronto. 2. Their early experiments showed that extracts from the pancreatic islets of Langerhans could lower blood sugar levels in diabetic dogs. 3. The first successful use of insulin on a human, a 14-year-old boy dying of diabetes, helped establish insulin as an effective treatment for diabetes. Banting and Best were later awarded the Nobel Prize for their discovery.

1. Insulin

4. The Pancreas…..

9. 1. The importance of insulin is juxtaposed with that of glucose, our body's basic unit of fuel. 2. In order to regulate glucose metabolism, insulin circulates through blood vessels to deliver its message by means of a "handshake" with its cognate cell surface receptor. 3. For those with diabetes mellitus, the body is either unable to produce insulin, or unable to produce it in sufficient amounts, and is therefore powerless in maintaining proper levels of blood glucose. 4. Even though insulin is a life saver, it does not cure the disease. Insulin injections themselves are not without risk. Improvements in the treatment of diabetes will come from a better understanding of how insulin is made in the pancreas and released into the bloodstream, and how it promotes uptake of circulating glucose by tissues including muscle and fat.

11. Insulin Secretion