A new book celebrating the life of an Aberdeen insulin pioneer will be launched at an event bringing together today's leaders in the treatment of diabetes.
'JJR Macleod Co-discoverer of Insulin' is published by Aberdeen University Press and tells the story of the Aberdeen-educated professor who led the life-saving discovery of insulin.
It was an achievement for which he was jointly awarded the Nobel prize but for decades the name John James Rickard (known as JJR) Macleod, was mired in accusations that he had stolen ideas and claimed credit where it was not deserved.
More recent research has helped to restore the reputation of Macleod, who spent his later years back in the University of Aberdeen as Regius Professor of Physiology, and a new edition of a biography of his life has now been published.
Originally produced in 1993, the work by Aberdeen-based diabetologist, Michael Williams (1931-2022), has been refreshed by Aberdeen University Press with a new introduction by Dr Kenneth McHardy, another Aberdonian who succeeded the author as a diabetes specialist.
Dr McHardy has championed the revision project which details a far more complex, if no less acrimonious, story of insulin discovery demonstrating that its realisation was indeed a team effort with Macleod, a recognised world leader on carbohydrate physiology, at the helm and rightfully earning his credit.
He said: “JJR Macleod Co-discoverer of Insulin tells the story of Macleod’s life and work and this new edition describes several interventions over recent years to restore his reputation as a scientist whose work contributed to saving hundreds of millions of lives.
“We are delighted to produce this new edition of the biography as even in Aberdeen, the memory of Macleod had been eroded just as it has in Canada and around the world.
“Remarkably, the author first heard of JJR on reading the 1982 book ‘The Discovery of Insulin’ by Toronto academic historian Michael Bliss, whose reinvestigation of the story began the restoration of Macleod’s place in history.
“This was despite Dr Williams attending the same school and university as Macleod, studying in his Physiology department only 14 years after his death, and having been a diabetes consultant in Aberdeen since 1968.”
The new edition will make Macleod’s remarkable life story accessible to new audiences either as a free online publication or in print in a paperback edition, now available to buy.
Born in rural Perthshire in 1876 Macleod was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and the University in Aberdeen. Rapid career progress in Leipzig, Aberdeen and London culminated in his appointment as Professor of Physiology in Cleveland, Ohio aged only 27. He moved on to similar positions in Toronto then back in Aberdeen.
In Cleveland he became an expert on carbohydrate physiology and in Toronto in 1922, he led the four-man team that discovered the world’s first clinically useful insulin.
The following year he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for this life-saving scientific breakthrough, together with colleague, Frederick Banting but the latter claimed that Macleod had stolen credit for the work.
This was the dominant narrative until later detailed interpretations of what had happened in Macleod’s department concluded that history had underestimated Macleod’s contributions.
Professor Mirela Delibegovic, who leads the University of Aberdeen Cardiovascular and Diabetes Centre and is Regius Chair of Physiology, is following in the footsteps of Macleod, dedicating her research to the study of insulin resistance.
She will attend the celebration event alongside Dr McHardy and a range of other diabetologists, scientists and diabetes advocates including John Otto, co-founder and chairman of the JJR Macleod Memorial Statue Society.
Professor Delibegovic said: “I am delighted to see the launch of JJR Macleod Co-discoverer of Insulin, which will open up the remarkable life story of JJR Macleod to new audiences.
“His reputation was one of the things which drew me to the University of Aberdeen and holding the same royal appointment he did as Regius Chair of Physiology is a true privilege.
“I hope that the work that we do here might one day have the same transformational impact as his team’s discovery of insulin.”
Further information about Aberdeen University Press can be found at https://aberdeenunipress.org/