Charles best insulin biography of michael

BEST, CHARLES HERBERT, physiologist, medical researcher, and university teacher; b. 27 Feb. in Pembroke, Maine, second child and only son of Herbert Huestis Best and Luella May Fisher (known as Lulu Newcomb); m. 3 Sept. Margaret Hooper Mahon in Toronto, and they had two sons; d. there 31 March 

His involvement in the discovery of insulin was both the high point of Charles H. Best’s life and the source of a lifetime of regret that he was not given the recognition he thought he deserved.

The son of a Canadian-born country doctor practising in Maine, Charley, as he was called by his family, was educated locally, took his final year of high school in Toronto, where he had relatives, and entered the University of Toronto in At the beginning of his second year in a general arts course he transferred into the honours physiology and biochemistry program. He interrupted his education to serve in the Canadian army late in World War I, but did not reach the front, and returned to the university, where he earned his bachelor of arts degree in the spring of Intending to take an ma, Best accepted a summer position as one of two student assistants to the professor of physiology, John James Rickard Macleod*.

In a Macleod lecture the previous winter Best had first heard mention of Dr Frederick Grant Banting*, who might be coming to Toronto to test an idea for research aimed at finding the elusive internal secretion of the pancreas, a substance that was thought to hold the key to the regulation of metabolism. Macleod asked Best and the other student assistant, Edward Clark Noble, to help Banting with his project. Many years later, when Best began constructing a narrative of this early period in his career, he said that he had been eager to work with Banting because of an interest he had in diabetes mellitus, which had claimed the life of one of his aunts. Anxious to crush any idea that his fame had been shaped by good luck, Be

Canadian co-discoverer of insulin (–)

For other people named Charles Best, see Charles Best (disambiguation).

Charles Herbert Best (February 27, – March 31, ), was an American-Canadian medical scientist and one of the co-discoverers of insulin with Frederick Banting. He served as the chair of the Banting and Best Department of Medical Research at the University of Toronto and was further involved in research concerning choline and heparin.

Early life

Charles Herbert Best was born in Pembroke, Maine, on February 27, , to Luella (Lulu) Fisher and Herbert Huestis Best, a Canadian-born physician from Nova Scotia. His father, Herbert Best, was a doctor in a small Maine town with a limited economy based mostly on sardine-packing. His mother Lulu was a soprano singer, organist, and pianist. Charles Best grew up in Pembroke before going to Toronto, Ontario, to study medicine in

By the time Best had reached college age and was choosing between such schools as McGill University and the University of Toronto, family connections persuaded him to pursue his studies in Toronto. Family illness had guided Best's research interests—his Aunt Anna dying of diabetes had profound effects on him. It was for this reason, and the fact that his father was a physician, that he chose to study at University of Toronto and train to become a doctor. His university studies were interrupted following his first year by the onset of the First World War. He served as an infantry soldier, reaching the rank of acting Sergeant Major. Following his service, he eventually returned to university in Toronto, but was falling behind in his classes.

Co-discovery of insulin

Best moved in to Toronto, Ontario, where he started studying towards a bachelor of arts degree at University College, University of Toronto. In , he enlisted in the Canadi

Michael Bliss

University of Chicago Press, £

ISBN 0 0

For a diabetes physician, Bliss's classic book is like “The Creation.” The Discovery of Insulin is the true tale of the medical and scientific detective work and intrigue that led to what is arguably one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century. But because it was not a cure, it was also one of the century's premier disappointments.

When I first read the book in the s I couldn't put it down, and the hair on my neck still rises when I look at those handwritten notes penned during that hot Toronto summer of The story reads like one of Berton Rouche's medical detective tales or a Michael Crichton science fiction novel.

Imagine the following absurd scenario for a research proposal. A young surgeon with no bench research experience has his curiosity piqued by a casual journal article. He goes to his former professor of physiology at an obscure medical school and asks for some space and supplies to attempt to isolate the internal secretion of the pancreas—a task which researchers over the world (with one exception) had failed to achieve for half a century. The professor, leaving for his summer holiday, reluctantly gives his permission plus the assistance of an untried medical student. A late addition to the “team” is a biochemist to help purify “the stuff.”

In the course of that summer this unlikely team achieve the impossible: they isolate the active secretion of the pancreas, and the rest, as they say, is history. But not so fast. When the Nobel Prize is handed out in , it is only the absent professor (Macleod) and the surgeon (Frederick Banting) who are honoured. They, with some degree of rancour, announce that they will each share their portion of the prize with someone else. Banting gives a share to the medical student, Charles Best, while Macleod shares his with the biochemist, Collip.

Banting and Best, in their first paper on the experiment, incorrectly and perhaps deliberately

Cite

By Christopher J. Rutty, Ph.D

Lead Historian, Defining Moments Canada, “Insulin ”.

On October 26, , Charles Best received a telegram from Fred Banting: “Nobel trustees have conferred prize on Macleod and me. You are with me in my share always.” Best was in Boston, invited by Harvard Medical School students to give a talk about the discovery of insulin, and to lend his name to efforts to raise $, for a new dormitory. Best was introduced by Dr. Elliott P. Joslin, one of the leading diabetes specialists, based in Boston. After Best’s talk, Joslin read a telegram he received from Banting: “I assign to Best equal share discovery Insulin. Hurt that Nobel Trustees did not so acknowledge him. Will share with him. Please read this telegram at any dinner or meeting. Banting.” The Boston Globe reported on the story of Banting wanting to share the Nobel Prize with Best, who was “now the most famous medical student in the world.”

The Boston Globe report added a brief biography of the world-famous medical student: “Born in Maine, the son of a Canadian doctor who was practising there, Dr. Eliot explained, Mr. Best came to the University of Toronto as a medical student, working his way through the course there.” The full details of his life are documented in the book by his son, Henry B.M. Best, Margaret and Charley: The Personal Story of Dr. Charles Best, the Co-Discoverer of Insulin, published in Charles Herbert Best was born on February 27, , in West Pembroke, Maine, to Herbert Huestis Best and Luella May Fisher, who had both grown up in Nova Scotia. Charles’ father attended Dalhousie University in Halifax and intended to complete medical school at McGill University in Montreal, but illness upset that plan and he earned his M.D. in New York City. Herbert’s sister, Anna Best Jenkins, was a nurse in New York City, and helped him with expenses; it was while there that Herbert met Lu