Diabetes mellitus, Banting and the discovery of insulin: a paradigm of bibliographical serendipity

Abstract

Context: Scientific serendipity is a paradigm for many researchers, but the case of Banting and the discovery of insulin for the treatment of diabetes mellitus results in a fundamental case of analysis and is a clear example to understand what bibliographic serendipity consists of and how this leads to a discovery that cures a disease known for years without being able to find a previous cure. Contents: It is necessary to understand the history of the disease, how the information is constructed and collected, which ends up, at one point, being established as a theory that leads to the efforts of many researchers to not find a cure for diabetes mellitus. Then there are the sections of this article that explain the life and discovery processes of Frederich Banting, from investigative serendipity to achieving a clear and successful procedure for the cure of said disease. Contributions: This historical review seeks to make visible the importance of serendipities within the investigative-scientific process and highlights the case of Banting to appeal to new ways of seeing processes with complex diseases and thus inspire new doctors to explore this way of approach for the resolution or the search of cure to certain pathologies.