Sir Frederick Banting

Sir Frederick Grant Banting (November 14, 1891 – February 21, 1941) was a Canadian medical scientist, doctor and Nobel laureate. Download high resolution version (1830x2730, 1358 KB)Sir Frederick Banting This work is copyrighted. ... Download high resolution version (1830x2730, 1358 KB)Sir Frederick Banting This work is copyrighted. ... November 14 is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 47 days remaining. ... 1891 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Nobel Prizes (pronounced no-BELL or no-bell) are awarded annually to people who have done outstanding research, invented groundbreaking techniques or equipment, or made outstanding contributions to society. ...

Banting was born in Alliston, Ontario. After studying medicine at the University of Toronto and graduating in 1916, he served in the Canadian Army Medical Corps during World War I. After the war, he returned to Canada and between 1919 and 1920 completed his training as an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. In July 1920 he began to practice medicine in London, Ontario. There, on the night of 31 October 1920, during his routine reading of articles in a medical journal, he wrote down an idea for a method to isolate the internal secrection of the pancreas, the crucial step needed for effective treatment for diabetes. Up to that point, all methods to obtain a useful secretion which could be safely administered to humans had proved unsuccessful. Alliston, Ontario is an Ontario community just about 90 kilometers from Toronto, and around 30 to 35 km SW of Barrie. ... The University of Toronto (U of T), in Toronto, Ontario, is the largest university in Canada with more than 60,000 students across three campuses. ... 1916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... Missing image Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Atrium of the Hospital for Sick Children. ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada on the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor with a metropolitan area population of about 447,286; the city proper has a population of about 351,267 (2004). ... October 31 is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 61 days remaining, as the final day of October. ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... The pancreas is a retroperitoneal organ that serves two functions: exocrine - it produces pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes endocrine - it produces several important hormones Anatomy The pancreas is a retroperitoneal organ located posterior to the stomach on the posterior abdominal wall. ...

Dissatisfied with his practice and fascinated by his idea, Banting left London and moved to Toronto. There, on 17 May 1921 he began his research at the University of Toronto, under the supervision of professor John Macleod. He was assigned a single assistant to help him, the young graduate student Charles Best. May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ... 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... John James Richard Macleod (September 6, 1876 - March 16, 1935) was a Nobel prizewinner. ... Charles Herbert Best, CC, ( February 27, 1899 – March 31, 1978) was a medical scientist. ...

During a summer of intense work, Banting tested his idea, performing operations on dogs to tie up their pancreatic ducts, which resulted in a partial atrophy of the pancreas. The pancreas would be then removed some weeks later, with the hope that it would then contain a high concentration of uncontaminated secretion of the pancreas. An extract would then be made from it and administered to diabetic dogs, to test whether it could treat their diabetes through lowering the blood sugar level.

An oil painting of Sir Frederick Banting in 1925 by Tibor Polya, now in the possession of the National Portrait Gallery of Canada

After some months of work, it appeared to Banting that his method was working, and that he could keep diabetic dogs alive with his extract. He enthusiastically reported his findings to Macleod, who was away on his summer holidays during this time. In retrospect, some claim that Banting's experiments were crude and did not prove the validity of his idea, which was not physiologically sound in any case. However, the results encouraged further intensive work in the fall, with direct participation by Macleod and the chemist James Collip. The use of dog's pancreas proved impractical and was soon abandoned in favour of using pancreas taken directly from calves and cows. The technique of tying pancreatic ducts was also discarded, with all the efforts concentrated on developing methods to extract a useful extract from a normal pancreas. The efforts of the team in 1921-1922 culminated in developing the ability to obtain a useful extract, named insulin. This is an Oil Paiting of Sir Frederick Banting produced in 1925 by Tibor Polya (1886-1937) The artist has been dead since 1937. ... This is an Oil Paiting of Sir Frederick Banting produced in 1925 by Tibor Polya (1886-1937) The artist has been dead since 1937. ... James Collip was part of the Toronto group which helped create insulin. ... 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The structure of insulin Red: carbon; green: oxygen; blue: nitrogen; pink: sulfur. ...

This was one of the most significant advances in medicine at the time. Insulin was not only discovered, but put into mass production in a matter of months. Hence almost immediately it began to extend the lives of millions of people worldwide who suffered from the endocrine disease diabetes mellitus that could not be treated and had a very poor prognosis. People suffered from problems with fat and protein metabolism, leading to blindness and then death only a short time after the onset of the illness. The endocrine system is a control system of ductless endocrine glands that secrete chemical messengers called hormones that circulate within the body via the bloodstream to affect distant organs. ... Diabetes mellitus is a medical disorder characterized by varying or persistent hyperglycemia (elevated blood sugar levels), especially after eating. ...

In 1923 Banting and Macleod would receive the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Banting shared the award money with Best, believing that Best deserved the prize more than Macleod, who in turn shared his award money with Collip. Banting gained great esteem in Canada as the first Canadian to achieve worldwide scientific fame. The Canadian government gave him a lifetime grant for his research. In 1934 King George V bestowed a knighthood on him, making him Sir Frederick Banting. List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physiology or Medicine from 1901 to the present day. ... King George V King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Emperor of India His Majesty King George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert) (3 June 1865–20 January 1936) was the last British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, changing the name to the House...

In the 1930s, war was looming in Europe, and Banting was alarmed by the rise of Nazi Germany. He started several war research efforts, including playing a major role in the creation of the first production G-suit, which would be used by Royal Air Force pilots during the war. He was also involved in research in biological weapons, both in terms of countermeasures and methods for mass production of anthrax, although the exact nature of this research remains unclear even today. Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... A G-suit is worn by aviators and astronauts subject to high accelerations to prevent loss of consciousness, commonly called blackout or G-LOC (G-induced Loss Of Consciousness). ... The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force of the United Kingdom. ... Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of any organism (bacteria, virus or other disease_causing organism) or toxin found in nature, as a weapon of war. ...

At the pinnacle of his brilliant career, Banting was killed on February 21, 1941, when the Lockheed Hudson patrol bomber he was travelling to England in crashed shortly after takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland. The exact purpose of his flight to England remains a mystery, but it appears likely he was going to meet with counterparts in an effort to convince them to produce biological weapons as a last-ditch weapon in case of a German invasion of England. Another possibility for the trip was Banting's desire to work on the front lines. He had been denied his request to do so a month earlier, as Canadian officials believed he would be more useful back home. It is a testament to Banting's strong will that he was able to dress the pilot's wounds before he succumbed to his own injuries. February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Lockheed Hudson Mk V The Lockheed Hudson was a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of World War II. The Hudson was the first significant aircraft construction contract for the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation—the initial RAF order for 200... A patrol bomber, or patrol aircraft, is an airplane designed to operate for long times over water in an anti-shipping or anti-submarine role. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... Gander is a town in northeastern Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. ...

During his lifetime he was never fully comfortable with the medical establishment of the day. He had always been an avid amateur painter and in an attempt to alleviate the anxiety he felt around the medical community he befriended the legendary Canadian artists The Group of Seven. Many of his surviving canvases bear a striking resemblance to the Group of Seven's body of work. The Group of Seven was a group of Canadian landscape painters in the 1920s, originally consisting of Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. Macdonald, and Frederick Varley. ...

He is interred in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto. His name is immortalized in the yearly Banting Lecture, given by an expert in diabetes and by the creation of Banting Memorial High School in Alliston, ON; Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School in London, ON; and École Banting Middle School in Coquitlam, BC. He was married twice and had one son, Bob Banting, who is still alive today but tries to stay at a distance from his father's legacy. Mount Pleasant Cemetery can refer to a number of different cemeteries, including: Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Newark, New Jersey, USA This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

In 1994 he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. In 2004, Frederick Banting was nominated as one of the top 10 "Greatest Canadians" by viewers of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. When the final votes were counted, Banting finished fourth behind Tommy Douglas, Terry Fox and Pierre Trudeau. 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame is a Canadian charitable organization, founded in 1994, that honours Canadians who have contributed to the understanding of disease and improving the health of people. ... Officially launched on April 5, 2004, The Greatest Canadian was a project by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, to find who is the greatest ever Canadian. ... The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known by the abbreviation CBC, is Canadas state-owned radio and television service. ... Thomas Clement Douglas PC,CC,SOM (October 20, 1904 - February 24, 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian Baptist minister and democratic socialist politician. ... Terry Fox on his run Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete and cancer treatment activist. ... Name Pierre Elliott Trudeau Number Fifteenth First term April 20, 1968–June 4,1979 Second term March 3, 1980–June 30, 1984 Predecessor Lester Bowles Pearson Successors Joe Clark John Napier Turner Date of birth October 18, 1919 Place of birth Montreal, Quebec Date of death September 28, 2000 Spouse...

See also

• Nobel Prize controversies

The Nobel Prizes are a series of awards, posthumously instituted by bequest of Alfred Nobel, to be awarded to individuals who had served humanity in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. ...

Bibliography

• The Discovery of Insulin by Michael Bliss, University of Chicago Press, 1982, ISBN 0226058972.
• Banting as an Artist by A.Y. Jackson, Ryerson Press, 1943.
• Discoverer of Insulin - Dr. Frederick G. Banting by I.E. Levine, New York: Julian Messner, 1962.
• Frederick Banting by Margaret Mason Shaw, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1976.
• Sir Frederick Banting by Lloyd Stevenson, Ryerson Press, 1946.
• Banting's miracle; the story of the discoverer of insulin by Seale Harris, Lippincott, 1946.

External links

• Banting Digital Library (http://www.newtecumseth.library.on.ca/banting/)
• Discovery of Insulin (http://www.discoveryofinsulin.com/)
• Banting House National Historic Site (http://www.diabetes.ca/Section_about/BantingIndex.asp)
• CBC Greatest Canadians - Frederick Banting (http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/top_ten/nominee/banting-frederick.html)