“It was one of those nights when I was disturbed and could not sleep. I thought about the lecture [on carbohydrate metabolism/diabetes] and about the article [The Relation of the Islets of Langerhans to Diabetes with Special Reference to Cases of Pancreatic Lithiasis] and I thought about my miseries and how I would like to get out of debt and away from worry. Finally about two in the morning after the lecture and the article had been chasing each other through my mind for some time, the idea occurred to me…I got up and wrote down the idea and spent most of the night thinking about it.” (Sir Frederick Banting, 1941). That idea was his 25 word hypothesis written on October 31, 1920 in this very house. Those twenty five words would lead to the discovery of insulin and lift the death sentence of those with what we now know as type 1 diabetes. When you visit the museum you can experience the moment for yourself and see how that idea is as relevant today as it was 94 years ago. Image: Banting’s hypothesis. The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto. Image: Letter left for Dr. Banting in his bedroom, 2014. Banting House NHSC
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 13:42:54 +0000
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