Dr. Frederick Banting and Charles Herbert Best of the University of Toronto, discovered insulin in the early 1920. By studying the pancreases of dogs, they successfully learned how to extract insulin from animal pancreases, suspend it in a solution, and inject into a dog to treat its diabetes. The dog did not die from its diabetes! Next, they found ways to extract insulin from pig and cow pancreases, which could be used to treat humans with diabetes. Although the early insulin solutions created were not perfect, they were close enough and ever since have saved the lives of millions of animals and people.
Injection Techniques- Video Guide
After years of study, in the 1970 scientists established a way to purify insulin made from animal sources so humans using it experienced fewer side effects. Up until then, sometimes people with diabetes were sensitive to the animal insulin and would develop thick, pitted skin where the insulin was repeatedly injected. Some had allergic reactions that caused red welts or rashes on their skin. For those who experienced these problems, purified insulin’s offered them relief from unpleasant side effects.
In the 1980 – 1990, research took insulin manufacturing a giant step forward as a process was created to make synthetic human insulin from E.coli bacteria. Called human insulin, because it was a near-perfect match to the kind of insulin the human body makes, it caused few side effects and could be produced from non-animal source. Today, synthetic human insulin is the insulin of choice for diabetics.