Discovering a Drug to Benefit Diabetics

Diabetes is a chronic disease that many Canadians suffer from. People who have diabetes have high blood sugar levels, which are caused by the lack of, or resistance to insulin, or both. There are two types of diabetes: type one and type two.

Type one diabetes usually diagnosed during childhood and is when the body makes little to no insulin. Genetics, viruses and/or autoimmune problems may play a role in what causes this type of diabetes. Type two diabetes is much more common than type one. It is the cause of the body not making enough insulin to keep blood glucose levels normal, often because the body does not respond well to insulin. It is becoming more common due to increasing obesity and failure to exercise.

Insulin is a hormone created in the pancreas and works toward controlling blood sugar levels in the body through moving glucose from the bloodstream to different parts of the body to be used as energy.

Luckily, those who suffer from diabetes are able to obtain insulin to help them control their blood sugar levels, all thanks to a Canadian doctor, Edward Banting, and a his assistant, Charles Best. In the 1920s, Banting started experimenting on dogs to find a way to create insulin. After they had discovered that their method of creating insulin worked, they realized that it took too long. They then started to use fetal calf pancreases, and with the help of biochemist James Collip, were able to create insulin to use on humans. A few years later, they uncovered a major breakthrough, and were able to mass-produce insulin. Not long after this, insulin was offered for sale.

About 50 years later, another breakthrough was made and the first, genetically-engineered, synthetic “human” insulin was produced by Herbert Boyer using the bacteria E. coli.

All thanks to Edward Banting and Charles Best, many diabetics are able to maintain normal blood sugar levels, and ultimately live. 


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