Insulin was discovered 100 years ago – but it took a lot more than one scientific breakthrough to get a diabetes treatment to patients
- Written by James P. Brody, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine
A single brilliant insight is only part of the story of how diabetes became a manageable disease.Douglas Grundy/Three Lions via Getty ImagesDiabetes was a fatal disease before insulin was discovered on July 27, 1921. A century ago, people diagnosed with this metabolic disorder usually survived only a few years. Physicians had no way to treat their...

