Fred Banting and Charles Best are credited with the discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921. Banting was the chief researcher, Best was his research assistant...chosen over another man by the toss of a coin.
The Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin was shared by Banting and another man, a Scot by the name of John Macleod, head of the department where the research was carried out. It transpires that although history seems to give full credit to Banting and Best, the real glory should have gone to Macleod and another researcher, James Collip, who between them made all the most vital contributions to the project. In fact, without their contributions, Banting and Best could not progress any further than the previous work of Romanian Nicolai Paulescu who had already had far greater success in isolating active secretions from dog pancreases. It was Macleod's and Collip's suggestions which enabled the first successful trials on human diabetics.
Best was excluded from the Nobel Prize as his contribution was purely a functional pair of hands and not an intellectual one. Collip should've received far more credit than he actually did. Banting shared his prize fund with Best 50/50 and Macleod did the same with Collip.
Actual experiment:
Some dogs had their pancreases removed. Secretions were isolated from the pancreases of healthy dogs. These secretions were used to inject into the first set of dogs in an atempt to keep them alive. The Toronto University team were the first to complete successful trials with diabetic humans.
Source(s):
Fabulous Science, Fact and Fiction in the History of Scientific Discovery, by John Waller.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tales of the unexpected: Medicine's accidental discoveries
From Botox and viagra to penicillin, some of the greatest breakthrough cures have been discovered by happy serendipity. Roger Dobson reports
Viagra
The telephone call from a doctor in Merthyr Tydfil was one of the first clues. He had been running a small clinical trial on a new drug that had been designed for treating patients with angina. With other trials showing little efficacy for treating the disease, the future for the compound known as UK-92,480 was looking bleak.
When the doctor gave Pfizer the results, he mentioned that there had been some side effects among the healthy volunteers on the trial at Merthyr Tydfil, including indigestion and back pain. And, he added, some of the men had involuntary erections when they took the drug.
Scientists quickly discovered the scientific reason for the erections, and five years later and after much research, Pfizer applied for marketing approval for the drug – not for angina, this time, but for male impotence. Ten years on, Viagra has been used by more than 30 million men worldwide for impotence, and researchers are still finding new uses. The drug that nearly didn't make it is currently being used or investigated for treating more than a dozen diseases and health problems.
Vaccination
When Edward Jenner moved to practise medicine in rural Gloucestershire, he heard of a local saying that if a man wanted a woman who would not be scarred by the deadly smallpox disease, he should marry a milkmaid. This folk tale stemmed from the fact that milkmaids were vulnerable to cowpox, a chronic disease of cows that appeared as a rash on the milkmaids' hands.
As a result of this, in 1796 Jenner used cowpox to inoculate an eight-year-old boy called James, then exposed him, some weeks later, to smallpox. The cowpox was found to protect against smallpox.
Within six years, vaccination for the disease was an established practice, and it was Jenner's work that led to the eradication of smallpox in 1977, and the widespread use of vaccination.
Botulinum Toxin
In 1895, three members of a music club in Ellezelles, Belgium died and 34 fell ill, after eating a meal of raw salted ham. The culprit was eventually found to be Clostridium botulinum, which produces botulinum toxin, the most deadly poison of all. Work started in 1920, with researchers trying to isolate the toxin, but it wasn't until the 1950s that they discovered that the toxin could be used in tiny doses to treat "crossed eyes", spasms of the eyelids and excessive underarm sweating.
The cosmetically desirable effects of Botox were first discovered by Canadian surgeons Alastair and Jean Carruthers, a husband and wife team who noticed the softening of patients' frown lines following treatment for eye-muscle disorders.
"Its present cosmetic and non-cosmetic applications could certainly be considered a journey of serendipity,'' says Dr Arnold Klein of the University of California.
Later, Dr Richard Glogau, a dermatologist at the University of California, noticed a curious side effect when he injected Botox into the head and facial muscles of patients. The bacteria was being injected for cosmetic reasons, to temporarily get rid of wrinkles, but Glogau and his team noticed that patients who also had regular migraines were no longer getting them. Further research showed that botulinum toxin A injected into the muscles of the brow, eyes, forehead, side of the head and back of the head near the neck could induce immediate headache relief that may last for up to six months.
Penicillin
In 1928, after a period away from his laboratory at St Mary's Medical School in London, Alexander Fleming noticed that a mould had infected dishes where he had been growing experimental bacteria. Curiously, the area surrounding the mould growing in the dish was clear, suggesting that the bacteria could not survive near the mould. Fleming predicted that a compound produced by the mould must have an anti-bacterial action. He called the new chemical penicillin. Along with the other antibiotics, it revolutionised healthcare, and dramatically reduced mortality rates. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1945.
Librium and Valium
For months, the small box labelled Ro5-0690 had gathered dust. The product of work on synthetic dyes, it had been developed by Leo Sternbach, a pharmacist at Hoffmann-La Roche. During a routine clean-up, and Ro5-0690 was sent off to see if it had any pharmacological activity. The tests showed it to be highly effective. Ro5-0690 became the first anxiolytic benzodiazepine and was introduced in 1960 with the brand name Librium. Three years later, another anxiolytic benzodiazepine called diazepam (Valium) was introduced. Benzodiazepines revolutionised treatment for schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. "They became one of the most lucrative drugs – thanks to luck," said Professor Ban.
Antidepressants
In 1956, Roland Kuhn, a Swiss psychiatrist, suggested to Geigy that its compound G 22,355 might have a therapeutic effect in schizophrenia. But tests showed it to be ineffective for the conditions. Just before he returned the drugs to the maker, Kuhn gave it to a patient with severe depression. Spurred by the apparent beneficial effect, Kuhn extended his trial. Not only did it have favourable effects, the patients relapsed when the drug was stopped. Within a year, G 22,355 had become the first tricyclic antidepressant, a family of drugs since used by millions.
Quinine
South American Indians discovered quinine and its anti-malarial powers by accident. The Peruvian natives found that if they drank from water close to cinchona trees, their fever would be eased. It is now known that the bark is a source of quinine, and Jesuit missionaries are recorded as having first used quinine from the tree to fight malaria in Peru in the 17th century. Quinine was brought to Europe in the same century, and the drug was eventually synthesised to become of a successful treatment for the condition, until it was superseded by other antimalarials.
Insulin
When two German doctors removed the pancreas from a dog, their plan was to study digestion processes. But they noticed that the dog's urine was attracting unusually large number of flies. Tests showed that they were attracted by high levels of sugar in the urine – a symptom of diabetes. The existence of diabetes in healthy animals led to an understanding of the pancreas's role in diabetes. It also led to the identification of insulin and treatment of the disease.
source:http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/tales-of-the-unexpected-medicines-accidental-discoveries-826903.html
Viagra
The telephone call from a doctor in Merthyr Tydfil was one of the first clues. He had been running a small clinical trial on a new drug that had been designed for treating patients with angina. With other trials showing little efficacy for treating the disease, the future for the compound known as UK-92,480 was looking bleak.
When the doctor gave Pfizer the results, he mentioned that there had been some side effects among the healthy volunteers on the trial at Merthyr Tydfil, including indigestion and back pain. And, he added, some of the men had involuntary erections when they took the drug.
Scientists quickly discovered the scientific reason for the erections, and five years later and after much research, Pfizer applied for marketing approval for the drug – not for angina, this time, but for male impotence. Ten years on, Viagra has been used by more than 30 million men worldwide for impotence, and researchers are still finding new uses. The drug that nearly didn't make it is currently being used or investigated for treating more than a dozen diseases and health problems.
Vaccination
When Edward Jenner moved to practise medicine in rural Gloucestershire, he heard of a local saying that if a man wanted a woman who would not be scarred by the deadly smallpox disease, he should marry a milkmaid. This folk tale stemmed from the fact that milkmaids were vulnerable to cowpox, a chronic disease of cows that appeared as a rash on the milkmaids' hands.
As a result of this, in 1796 Jenner used cowpox to inoculate an eight-year-old boy called James, then exposed him, some weeks later, to smallpox. The cowpox was found to protect against smallpox.
Within six years, vaccination for the disease was an established practice, and it was Jenner's work that led to the eradication of smallpox in 1977, and the widespread use of vaccination.
Botulinum Toxin
In 1895, three members of a music club in Ellezelles, Belgium died and 34 fell ill, after eating a meal of raw salted ham. The culprit was eventually found to be Clostridium botulinum, which produces botulinum toxin, the most deadly poison of all. Work started in 1920, with researchers trying to isolate the toxin, but it wasn't until the 1950s that they discovered that the toxin could be used in tiny doses to treat "crossed eyes", spasms of the eyelids and excessive underarm sweating.
The cosmetically desirable effects of Botox were first discovered by Canadian surgeons Alastair and Jean Carruthers, a husband and wife team who noticed the softening of patients' frown lines following treatment for eye-muscle disorders.
"Its present cosmetic and non-cosmetic applications could certainly be considered a journey of serendipity,'' says Dr Arnold Klein of the University of California.
Later, Dr Richard Glogau, a dermatologist at the University of California, noticed a curious side effect when he injected Botox into the head and facial muscles of patients. The bacteria was being injected for cosmetic reasons, to temporarily get rid of wrinkles, but Glogau and his team noticed that patients who also had regular migraines were no longer getting them. Further research showed that botulinum toxin A injected into the muscles of the brow, eyes, forehead, side of the head and back of the head near the neck could induce immediate headache relief that may last for up to six months.
Penicillin
In 1928, after a period away from his laboratory at St Mary's Medical School in London, Alexander Fleming noticed that a mould had infected dishes where he had been growing experimental bacteria. Curiously, the area surrounding the mould growing in the dish was clear, suggesting that the bacteria could not survive near the mould. Fleming predicted that a compound produced by the mould must have an anti-bacterial action. He called the new chemical penicillin. Along with the other antibiotics, it revolutionised healthcare, and dramatically reduced mortality rates. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1945.
Librium and Valium
For months, the small box labelled Ro5-0690 had gathered dust. The product of work on synthetic dyes, it had been developed by Leo Sternbach, a pharmacist at Hoffmann-La Roche. During a routine clean-up, and Ro5-0690 was sent off to see if it had any pharmacological activity. The tests showed it to be highly effective. Ro5-0690 became the first anxiolytic benzodiazepine and was introduced in 1960 with the brand name Librium. Three years later, another anxiolytic benzodiazepine called diazepam (Valium) was introduced. Benzodiazepines revolutionised treatment for schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. "They became one of the most lucrative drugs – thanks to luck," said Professor Ban.
Antidepressants
In 1956, Roland Kuhn, a Swiss psychiatrist, suggested to Geigy that its compound G 22,355 might have a therapeutic effect in schizophrenia. But tests showed it to be ineffective for the conditions. Just before he returned the drugs to the maker, Kuhn gave it to a patient with severe depression. Spurred by the apparent beneficial effect, Kuhn extended his trial. Not only did it have favourable effects, the patients relapsed when the drug was stopped. Within a year, G 22,355 had become the first tricyclic antidepressant, a family of drugs since used by millions.
Quinine
South American Indians discovered quinine and its anti-malarial powers by accident. The Peruvian natives found that if they drank from water close to cinchona trees, their fever would be eased. It is now known that the bark is a source of quinine, and Jesuit missionaries are recorded as having first used quinine from the tree to fight malaria in Peru in the 17th century. Quinine was brought to Europe in the same century, and the drug was eventually synthesised to become of a successful treatment for the condition, until it was superseded by other antimalarials.
Insulin
When two German doctors removed the pancreas from a dog, their plan was to study digestion processes. But they noticed that the dog's urine was attracting unusually large number of flies. Tests showed that they were attracted by high levels of sugar in the urine – a symptom of diabetes. The existence of diabetes in healthy animals led to an understanding of the pancreas's role in diabetes. It also led to the identification of insulin and treatment of the disease.
source:http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/tales-of-the-unexpected-medicines-accidental-discoveries-826903.html
