Banting House at 442 Adelaide Street North (Banting House/Twitter)
Halloween isn’t the only special event that’s recognized on Oct. 31. This date also marks the anniversary of the idea that led to the discovery of insulin, right here in London, Ont.
In the early 1920s, Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin under the directorship of John Macleod at the University of Toronto. With the help of James Collip insulin was purified, making it available for the successful treatment of diabetes. Banting and Macleod earned a Nobel Prize for their work in 1923, Banting initially turning down the award thinking Best, his research assistant, deserved to be recognized.
“That refusal lasts for part of a day. He’s literally told he has no choice,” says Grant Maltman from the Banting House in London, Ont. “He’s the first Canadian to win a Nobel Prize, the first person from the University of Toronto, at age 31, for a discovery made at age 29. He’s the youngest person to win it in Physiology or Medicine.”
The idea sparked within the walls of 442 Adelaide Street North, known today as the Banting House, after he gave a lecture on metabolism at Western University. Admitting his lack of knowledge on the subject, Banting looked over all the books he could find on metabolism and read articles in surgical journals in order to adequately prepare himself.
At 2:00 A.M. on the morning of Oct. 31, 1920, after
“the lecture and article had been chasing each other through [his] mind for some time. I got up, I wrote down, I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” said in a written statement from Banting.
According to Maltman, those 25 words led to the discovery of insulin the following year.
“There is no discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto, without that Oct. 31 event here in the house,” says Maltman. “And so it seemed fitting that on that third anniversary, you know, six days after winning Canada’s first Nobel, he returned to London and spoke to the Canadian Club.”
In this speech, Banting says “three years ago today is my idea. I became engaged to diabetes. Two years ago, when the experiments took off in July, I was wed, and today I’m considering applying for my divorce from diabetes.”
“I think in some ways he knew he was going to be the ‘diabetes guy’ for the rest of his life,” says Maltman. “The public, as a general rule, doesn’t really know his other contributions to Canada and the world of Science, and I think he knew that.”
It was from Banting’s speech, on Oct. 31, 1923, that the Detroit Free Press and the London Free Press ran pictures of the Banting House, labeling it the birthplace of insulin. Also suggesting it be purchased and turned into a museum and receive a national plaque.
“It wasn’t until 1970, the 50th anniversary of the idea that lady Banting was here to unveil this plaque, the first plaque from the London Public Library historic sites committee,” says Maltman.
In 1981, Diabetes Canada acquired the property. In 1989, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II visited the Banting House, unveiling a bronze statue which depicts Banting writing down his insulin hypothesis and kindled the Flame of Hope. A flame which will burn until a cure for diabetes is found.
Last week we toured a couple from N. Carolina, USA who spent time learning of the Queen Mother's visit in '89 & the kindling of Flame of Hope.#insulin100 #BantingHouse #thisplacematters #birthplaceofinsulin #diabetes #banting #T1D #T2D #ldnmuse #ldnont #insulin #DiscoverOurStory pic.twitter.com/IY21zqBxed
— Banting House NHSC (@BantingHouse) October 15, 2021
The doctor or team of doctors who finds the cure will be brought to London to extinguish the flame and unearth the time capsule life by the International Diabetes Federation in 1991 as part of Banting’s centenary celebration.
But there would be no celebration if not for Banting’s idea on Oct. 31, 1920. The house on 442 Adelaide Street North stands as an important site in the city of London. Still holding Banting’s original office and bedroom, Maltman says for them and for those who visit, the importance of this home still remains evident in the community.
“It becomes a moment for them because their child or their own individual, their life saving treatment, got its start here and that is a really powerful feeling for people who visit.”
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