Delighted that my new book ‘Insulin – the Crooked Timber’ is published by Oxford University Press today in both hardback and audiobook format. And much as I’m indebted to the work of scientists such as Fred Banting, Charles Best, James Collip and John Macleod for this discovery that has saved countless lives (including my own) – not forgetting other contenders to the throne such as dismayed German clinician Georg Zuelzer and Israel Kleiner, for me the real hero of the tale is the humble wool fibre…
Month: January 2022
‘Take care what you wish for…’ – the 1923 Nobel prize for insulin
You’d think that winning a Nobel prize for a discovery that would save countless lives (my own included!) might have a scientist turning cartwheels in delight. But when Canadian doctor Fred Banting first heard the news that he had been awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize the discovery of insulin, his reaction was….surprising, to say the least.
Banting was utterly FURIOUS. Really enjoyed giving this interview with presenter Daryl McIntyre on Canadian talk radio station 630 CHED AM to explain why…
‘Game of Thrones’…with lab coats and pipettes instead of poisoned daggers and chain mail…
…is a pretty good description of the story of the discovery of insulin. This week has seen much celebration of the fact that one hundred years ago on 11th Jan, this life saving substance, isolated by Fred Banting, Charles Best, John Macleod and James Collip at the University of Toronto was first injected into a human patient. But spare a thought for poor German scientist Georg Zuelzer who would be spinning in his grave had he known we were celebrating the centenary of insulin this year.
As far as Zuelzer was concerned he had already isolated insulin, patented it and tested it with some degree of success in patients back in 1908. And when Banting was awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of insulin, Zuelzer was utterly dismayed.
So why then don’t we remember Zuelzer? In a piece for ‘The Conversation’ this week, I take a look at this question…https://theconversation.com/the-discovery-of-insulin-a-story-of-monstrous-egos-and-toxic-rivalries-172820
Why write a book about insulin…?
Why indeed? And what can the story of this life-saving drug tell us? And, 100 years after its discovery (although some would dispute this) does it have any lessons for us today? Gave an interview to ‘The Times’ to explain…http://www.kerstenhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Insulin-Times-Radio.mp3