Scots scientist who helped save 300m lives

Published on 29/05/2012 00:00

THE life of the Scottish scientist who played a pivotal role in the discovery of insulin will be celebrated this week to mark the 90th anniversary of the crucial medical breakthrough.

Professor John Macleod, a graduate of Aberdeen University, was part of the small team of scientists at Toronto University who changed the lives of diabetics around the world and won the Nobel Prize.

In 1922, he was professor of physiology and associate dean of medicine at Toronto when he was approached by Dr Frederick Banting about a theory he and student Charles Best had regarding a treatment for diabetes.

Prof Macleod provided Banting with funding, full use of his laboratories and supervised the research.

Aberdeen University, where Prof Macleod became regius professor of physiology, is hosting a lecture, Ninety Years of Insulin, on Thursday at the Suttie Centre. Speakers include Prof Mary Cotter, who said: “It is estimated more than 300 million lives have been saved as a result of the discovery of insulin.”