Great Inventors – Frederick Banting

Often in the age of celebrity worship, recognition of some of life's true heroes goes unnoticed. This Saul Bass-inspired graphic short film is part of a larger health initiative campaign focusing on some of these great inventors of science and medicine.

Dramatic, vibrant and striking, yet deceptively simple, the piece uses bold graphics highlighted by a bright color palette and direct messages to create an effective and strong piece to succinctly tell the fascinating story of surgeon Frederick Banting and his determination to find a treatment. for diabetes.

In 1920, working on a hunch, Banting made one of the greatest discoveries ever to benefit humanity: the correlation between diabetes and insulin.

Banting struggled to get his theory recognized and funded so that he could develop it, refine it, and demonstrate its effectiveness. He refused to take no for an answer, pushing for a laboratory and some simple supplies.

Working day and night with his associate Charles Best and his research student James Collip, he finally persevered to develop a treatment for a disease that remains incurable to this day. Insulin remains the only treatment for diabetes, making the difference between life and death for millions of people around the world.

In 1923 he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, sharing his awards with Best. In a grand humanitarian gesture, Banting sold the rights to the patent to the University of Toronto for just one dollar, ensuring that insulin could forever be available to anyone in need.