The miracle of insulin
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John JR Macleod (1876–1935,) an Aberdonian Scot who had emigrated
to North America, shared the 1923 Nobel Prize with Frederick Banting for their
discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921–22. Macleod finished his
career as Regius Professor of Physiology at the University of Aberdeen from 1928
to 1935. Macleod’s posthumous reputation was deeply tarnished by the campaigns
against him carried out by his fellow laureate, Banting, and by Banting’s student
assistant during the insulin research, Charles Best. Banting’s denigration of Macleod
Keywords Diabetes, insulin, health services
Declaration of Interests No conflicts of interest declared.
Insulin therapy remains the cornerstone of treating patients with diabetes mellitus. All patients with Type 1, and many with Type 2, diabetes are treated with insulin. This article describes the discovery and evolution of insulin preparations and discusses current analogue, standard human and animal insulin preparations available for prescription in the UK, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of the various preparations. An overview of initiating insulin therapy and typical insulin doses and regimes is given.