An investigation of the extractable insulin levels and pancreas weights of New Zealand sheep : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology in Biotechnology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Abstract

In 1921 Banting and Best were the first workers to successfully obtain the active substance insulin from the pancreas. The dramatic clinical benefits of the hormone were immediately apparent and insulin has become the most important commercially produced protein in the medical field. It also has a unique place in protein chemistry investigations as it was the first protein to be crystallised, the amino acid sequence determined and a biologically active molecule synthesized chemically. Methods for producing insulin were developed by Scott and Best at the Connaught Laboratories, Toronto, in the early 1920's. The Insulin Committee set up by the Connaught Laboratories selected Eli Lilly and Company as the first pharmaceutical company to manufacture insulin. Scott and Best developed methods for the preparation of insulin, including large-scale production methods and these methods were sent to interested manufacturers throughout the world at regular intervals (Best 1960). Active work on insulin has continued both at Connaught Laboratories and at the Banting and Best Institute in Toronto. The more recent work from these groups has been on the physiological effects of insulin, modes of insulin action, and factors affecting secretion of insulin by the pancreas. Many other laboratories throughout the world are also investigating similar aspects of insulin. [From Introduction]