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Charles Best

Co-discoverer of insulin · 1899-1978

A 22-year-old student who won a coin toss and spent the summer that changed medicine.

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Life story

1. February 27, 1899 · Maine
   Born at West Pembroke, Maine, to Canadian parents
2. May 1921 · Toronto
   Won a coin toss against Clark Noble for the first shift in Banting's lab
3. January 1922 · Toronto
   The extract he helped prepare brought Leonard Thompson out of a diabetic coma
4. 1923 · Toronto
   Passed over for the Nobel Prize; Banting gave him half the prize money
5. 1941 · Toronto
   Took over the Banting and Best Department of Medical Research
6. March 31, 1978 · Toronto
   Died in Toronto

Sources

• Wikipedia article: Charles Best (medical scientist)
• Dictionary of Canadian Biography
• The Canadian Encyclopedia