They Got Very Near the Goal: Zülzer, Scott, and Paulescu

Of the many investigators who went in search of the blood sugar-lowering hormone, three came very close to the goal. They owned patents for their extracts and, following the discoveries in Toronto, they attempted to claim their precedence. Georg Ludwig Zülzer in Berlin treated animals and patients with his acomatol – initially the results were inconsistent but in later years, together with Dr. Camille Reuter from Roche, a very effective insulin preparation was produced – sadly just at the time when the First World War began in 1914. The project ended with the war. In Chicago, Ernest Lyman Scott produced an effective extract when working on his thesis – but sadly the publication of his results was written so badly by his head of department that the manuscript passed unnoticed. Nicolai Paulescu produced insulin in Bucharest and observed positive effects in animals and patients. The results were published shortly before the work of Banting and Best, and for many years he and his Romanian colleagues fought for the recognition of his contribution to the discovery of insulin. His unforgivable extreme right-wing political activities only became known internationally after many years. The stories of the various reasons for the failures to produce a suitable extract for the treatment of diabetes is a lesson that teaches us how to avoid pitfalls in research.