At 2:00 h on Oct 31, 1920, Frederick G Banting, a surgeon practising in London, ON, Canada, conceived an idea to isolate the internal secretion of the pancreas. The following week, he met with noted scientist John J R Macleod in Toronto, ON, Canada, and they developed a research plan. By August, 1921, Banting and his student assistant Charles H Best had prepared an effective extract from a canine…

The first insulin preparation capable of consistently lowering blood glucose was developed in 1921. But 100 years later, blood glucose control with insulin in people with diabetes is nearly universally suboptimal, with essentially the same molecule still delivered by the same inappropriate subcutaneous injection route. Bypassing this route with oral administration appears to have become…