Charles Best—Codiscoverer of Insulin

Abstract

Although Frederick Banting (1891-1941) and John J. R. MacLeod (1876-1935) received the 1923 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for “the discovery of insulin,” Charles Herbert Best should also be given credit for the discovery. Realizing the Nobel Prize committee's slight to and lack of recognition of Best, Banting shared his prize money with him. Banting and Best extracted insulin from the pancreas, and MacLeod and the Canadian biochemist James B. Collip (1892-1965) isolated and purified the compound. Charles Herbert Best was born on February 27, 1899, in West Pembroke, Me. He was American by birth and Canadian by adoption. His father was a physician, and he had 1 sister. In 1915, Best graduated from high school in West Pembroke. He prepared for college at the Harbord Collegiate School in Toronto (Canada), and in 1916, he entered the University of Toronto. After his freshman year, he enlisted in the Canadian Army and served in the artillery in Canada and England during World War I (1914-1918). After army service, Best returned to the University of Toronto to continue his education. In 1921, he received a BA degree in physiology and biochemistry. During the summer of 1921, Best worked in MacLeod's laboratory as a research assistant in preparation for enrolling in a master's program at the University of Toronto. In this work, he joined Banting, who was working on the pancreatic ducts in dogs. By tying off the pancreatic ducts, Best and Banting produced a shriveled, degenerative organ (pancreas) from which Best harvested an extract that he injected into a dog whose pancreas had been removed. The dog recovered immediately, and Banting and Best knew they had made an important discovery. Best performed the chemical tests, measuring the glucose in the blood and urine of the dogs in which Banting had performed duct ligation and pancreatectomy. Best received an MA degree from the University of Toronto in 1922, and in 1923, he was named a research associate in the Banting and Best Department of Medical Research. In 1925, Best received his MD degree, after which he pursued postdoctoral work at the University of Freiburg (Germany) and the University of London (England). He returned from Europe in 1929 and was appointed professor and head of the Department of Physiology at the University of Toronto and resumed his work as research associate in the Banting and Best Department of Medical Research. When Banting died in 1941, Best succeeded him as its director from 1941 to 1967. During World War II (1939-1945), Best joined the Royal Canadian Navy and directed the Medical Research Unit; he worked with the Canadian Red Cross and the Canadian government to devise a method for transforming human blood into dried blood serum that could be stored indefinitely. Besides his work on insulin, Best also discovered the vitamin choline (which prevents liver damage under certain conditions), investigated histamine (an important mediator in local inflammatory reactions), and introduced anticoagulants (heparin) for treatment of thrombosis. Best received many honors and awards, including being elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London and the Royal Society of Canada. Among his extensive publications are The Internal Secretion of the Pancreas, written with Banting and published in 1922, The Physiological Basis of Medical Practice (1937), The Living Body (1952), and The Human Body, Its Anatomy and Physiology (1956). Best died in Toronto on March 31, 1978, at the age of 79 years. He has been honored on stamps issued by Belgium (1971), Canada (1971), Croatia (1996), and Uruguay (1972). In 1971, Kuwait issued a set of 2 stamps showing portraits of Banting and Best.