Best, Charles Herbert (1899-1978), a Canadian physiologist, was a principal discoverer of the hormone insulin. During 1921, Best and colleagues at the University of Toronto–particularly Frederick G. Banting, John J. R. Macleod, and James B. Collip–isolated and prepared insulin for the treatment of diabetes (see Banting, Sir Frederick Grant ; Insulin ). Best was a 22-year-old medical student at the time of the discovery. He became director of the University of Toronto physiology department in 1929. In 1941, he became director of the Banting and Best Department of Medical Research.
Best was born on Feb. 27, 1899, in West Pembroke, Maine. He died on March 31, 1978.
