Frederick G. Banting

Facts

Frederick Grant Banting

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Frederick Grant Banting
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1923

Born: 14 November 1891, Alliston, Canada

Died: 21 February 1941, Newfoundland, Canada

Affiliation at the time of the award: University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Prize motivation: “for the discovery of insulin”

Prize share: 1/2

Work

Diabetes is the body's inability to metabolize sugar correctly. Doctors realized that diabetes is caused by a lack of insulin, which is formed in parts of the pancreas, but could not prove it. Frederick Banting suspected that another substance formed in the pancreas, trypsin, broke down the insulin. In John MacLeod's laboratory in 1921, Frederick Banting and Charles Best treated dogs so that they no longer produced trypsin. Insulin could then be extracted and used to treat diabetes.

To cite this section
MLA style: Frederick G. Banting – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Sun. 3 Dec 2023. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1923/banting/facts/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Nobel Prizes 2023

Eleven laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in 2023, for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. Their work and discoveries range from effective mRNA vaccines and attosecond physics to fighting against the oppression of women.

See them all presented here.
Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.