After scientific experimentation on animals isolated the cause of diabetes in the pancreas, surgeon Frederick Banting and his assistant, Charles Best, successfully harvested insulin from the pancreas of a dog for the first time. In 1922, insulin was injected into its first patient, 14-year-old Leonard Thompson, stabilizing his blood sugar levels. It wasn’t long before pharmaceutical giants like Eli Lilly and the company now known as Novo Nordisk began commercially manufacturing the drug, which the American Diabetes Association would go on to describe as “a medical marvel in the world of diabetes.” Insulin revolutionized diabetes treatment and helped people with the chronic illness stay alive.
But as insulin manufacturing has
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