The story of Insulin, the invention sold for 1 USD, changed the history of world medicine

Insulin is considered one of the world's most important medical turning points in the 20th century, opening up opportunities to save the lives of many diabetic patients. But few people know that before the advent of Insulin, type 1 diabetes was considered a death sentence, the patient could only prolong their life by a few months or years with a harsh fasting diet. But thanks to Insulin, everything has changed. The story is even more special when the scientists who invented Insulin decided to sell the patent rights for a symbolic price of only 1 USD, so that more patients can access Insulin more easily.

Frederick Banting - father of Insulin

The story begins around 1920-1921 at the University of Toronto (Canada). Previously, scientists knew that in the pancreas there are small groups of cells called "islets". Besides, they also discovered that in patients with type 1 diabetes, these cells are destroyed, making the body no longer able to control blood sugar. However, extracting insulin from the pancreas at that time was still difficult, because this hormone was easily destroyed during the process.

In October 1920, Frederick Banting - then in his 20s and still a little-known doctor - became almost obsessed with the idea of ​​what the pancreas must have to control blood sugar. Then he accidentally read an article suggesting that insulin-producing cells can survive longer than other tissues in the pancreas. From there, he suddenly came up with an idea: if he could make the unnecessary tissue of the pancreas decompose first, then he could retain the cells that produce Insulin.

But because he did not have enough conditions to research, he turned to professor John Macleod at the University of Toronto for support. John Macleod was then a famous professor and when Benting came to ask for a laboratory, Macleod was quite skeptical, because so many people before him had failed. But he still gave Banting a small laboratory, a few dogs to do experiments and sent a young student named Charles Best to assist.

Experiments

The research team began experimenting on animals, mainly dogs. They removed the dog's pancreas, leaving the dog without insulin, causing blood sugar to rise, leading to the dog becoming diabetic. Then, they took fluid from another dog's pancreas and injected it into the diabetic dog. The initial results were not stable, but gradually they saw a miracle happen, the blood sugar of the dog suffering from small intestine decreased significantly.

By the end of 1921, they successfully treated a dog that had been suffering from diabetes for a long time. This proves that this method is effective. However, the original Insulin was full of impurities, so when injected into animals it caused side symptoms such as fever, toxicity and could not be used for humans. Hanting once commented that insulin, once isolated from dogs, looks like “a thick brown sludge.”

James Collip is involved in the production of Insulin

At this time, another character begins to participate in the process. Accordingly, on December 12, 1921, biochemist James Collip joined the group to help clean and purify Insulin, making it safe enough for human use. Thanks to this step, a purer form of Insulin is created, paving the way for future clinical trials. Many historians also commented that without Collip's appearance, Insulin would most likely have failed in this final step.

The first person in the world to be injected with insulin

The patient was Leonard Thompson, a 14-year-old working-class boy from Toronto. Leonard is described as a happy child who loves football and sports. However, at age 11, Leonard was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and his health deteriorated rapidly. When he was 14 years old, Leonard's physical condition was much smaller and weaker than his peers. He only weighed about 29kg and was always in the hospital, in a state of alternating consciousness and coma. Desperate to find a cure for their child, Leonard's parents agreed to let him participate in Frederick Banting's group's experiment. On January 11, 1922, Leonard received his first insulin injection, and after 24 hours, his blood sugar level dropped. However, the Insulin solution at that time was still not pure enough, so the injection site had an abscess.

The word “Insulin” is widely publicized

On May 3, 1922, John Macleod officially announced the discovery of Insulin to the international medical community at a medical conference in Washington. This is the first time the word Insulin is used in a scientific publication. When the presentation ended, the entire audience stood up and applauded for this important invention. On January 23, 1923, Frederick Banting, James Collip, and Charles Best were granted a US patent on Insulin and its method of production.

Internal conflicts

After initial success, the research team fell into fierce internal conflicts about credit and recognition for the invention. This is not just a rumor but also confirmed through letters, memoirs and documents archived at the University of Toronto.

Fraderick Banting believes that Insulin is mainly the result of him and Charles Best - the student who directly experimented with him from the first days. Meanwhile, the professor in charge of the laboratory, John Macleod, initially suspected that he was later the representative of the group that announced the research to the international scientific community. This makes Banting feel unfair.

Tensions within the group escalated dramatically during the period when insulin was being purified for human use. James Collip was then responsible for making Insulin purer and he did not like to share, did not want to reveal the process to others until it was completed. Banting believed that he and Best deserved to know the progress of the research, because they had been involved from the beginning. He believed that Collip was trying to keep it a secret to take credit, leading to a violent confrontation in the laboratory. Some documents also recorded that the two people almost got into a fight because of pressure and mutual suspicion. The biggest drama occurred in 1923, when Banting and Macleod were awarded the Nobel Prize for their invention of Insulin, while Best and Collip were not officially honored. Banting was angry because he thought that Best was the one who deserved to receive the award with him. To protest this decision, he gave half of the Nobel prize to Best. And Macleod divided half of his reward with Collip.

When Insulin Belongs to the World

Although the group was discordant and had disagreements, they were strangely almost united on one point: Insulin should not be monopolized for profit. That is why Frederick Banting, Charles Best and James Collip decided to sell the entire patent to the University of Toronto for a symbolic price of only 1 USD. Frederick Banting once said: “Insulin does not belong to me, it belongs to the whole world.” Because he believes that anyone who needs Insulin should have the opportunity to access it.

Why sell to the University of Toronto instead of keeping the patent public

The reason is because they are afraid that Insulin will be counterfeit or wrongly produced. It must be known that in the 1920s, Insulin was extremely difficult to purify, easily contaminated with impurities and dangerous to humans. If everyone produces their own, the market will be very chaotic and patients may lose their lives just because of poor quality insulin. So they wanted quality control and standardization in production, which is also the reason the patent was assigned to a university, instead of leaving it open to the public. From then on, the University of Toronto becomes the legal owner, and they will grant production rights to qualified companies. This will make it easier to control insulin quality.

Insulin is mass produced

As news of Insulin's effectiveness spread, worldwide demand for the drug skyrocketed. Many researchers began to improve the manufacturing process so that insulin could be produced in larger quantities.

Eli Lilly and Company became the first company to produce insulin on an industrial scale. By October 1923, they began distributing the first commercial batches of Insulin to the market. For many years, Insulin was mainly extracted from the pancreas of cows and pigs to treat diabetes. Although this Insulin has saved the lives of millions of patients. But it is still not really safe because the reaction rate is still high.

Not to mention, the efficiency of insulin production from animals is extremely low. People must use tons of cow or pig pancreas to obtain a small amount of pure insulin. In 1978, the first synthetic “Human Insulin” was created using genetic engineering. Scientists have used E.Coli bacteria to produce insulin that is identical to natural insulin in the human body. In 1982, Eli Lilly and Company became the first company to commercialize this type of biological insulin under the name Humulin. Later, Insulin became more and more diverse, with many types to suit the needs of each person. According to (1), (2), (3)