Sir Frederick Banting 1891 - 1941 Canadian painter and Nobel laureate for his co-discovery with Charles Best, J. J. R. MacLeod and James Collip in the development of insulin in the treatment and management of diabetes. In 1920, London, ON Banting had to give a talk on the pancreas at the University of Western Ontario. Combing through all the available research on the pancreas, he had a eureka moment combining knowledge from 2 key articles. One described the problem of having to extract insulin before it was destroyed by an enzyme in the pancreas and another on an experimental procedure wherein a pancreatic duct was closed with ligature, which caused the deterioration of the cells that secrete the enzyme that destroyed insulin. This method could be used to extract insulin before it was destroyed. Taking this idea to Macleod, Professor of Physiology at U of T, he was given a lab, his student, Best and biochemist, Collip to develop this idea in extracting insulin. Coinciding with this time in 1921, Banting also became interested in painting. His first works were painted on the back of cardboard he would get with his clothes from the dry cleaners. Going on outdoor painting trips with members of the Group of 7 most notably Lawren Harris and A. Y. Jackson who later had this to say, "He did not want to make a business of art and would tell [would-be purchasers] to go buy a Lismer or something else and then he would exchange it for one of his." In 1923, Banting became the youngest Nobel laureate for the insulin discovery at 32 and was granted annuity from the Government of Canada. His team sold the patent for $1 believing insulin should be made available to anyone who needed it. This here is the only interior painting he did of The Lab, 1925, where he made the finding, it sold for 10x it’s estimate in 2018 and a large portion was donated to further diabetes research. Oh and he also helped Wilbur Franks with the invention of the G-suit during WWII, ho hum.. A fascinating renaissance man 👨🏻 #Banting #bantingandbest #insulindiscovery #groupofseven #painter #scientist #artbio #sciencebio #inspiringpeople #canadian #inspiration #uoft #diabetes #thelab (at Bloor-Bedford Parkette) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_oRmlhgXgo/?igshid=curxnfb0vv4p