Best, Charles (Herbert) (1899-1978)

Canadian physiologist, one of the team of Canadian scientists including Frederick Banting whose research resulted in 1922 in the discovery of insulin as a treatment for diabetes. Best also discovered the vitamin choline and the enzyme histaminase, and introduced the use of the anticoagulant heparin. Best was born in Maine, USA. As one of Banting's undergraduate students at the University of Toronto, he took part in the experiments to isolate insulin. They tied off the pancreatic duct in a group of dogs, which caused atrophy of the pancreas except for the part known as the islets of Langerhans. This eliminated the digestive enzymes normally produced by the pancreas, and left only insulin, produced by the islets of Langerhans. An extract of this was injected into another group of dogs, whose pancreas had been entirely removed so that they had developed diabetes. Gradually, these dogs' condition improved with the injections. A Banting-Best Department of Medical Research was founded in Toronto, and Best was its director 1941-67.