The dramatic race to discover Insulin

In the early 1920s, a handful of scientists raced to isolate and mass-produce insulin, the world's first peptide-based medicine. Throughline explores how this life-saving breakthrough emerged from intense collaboration, fierce rivalries, and the desperate need to save children dying of diabetes. Historian Alison Li and curator Grant Maltman trace the human story behind the cure, the ethical dilemmas over patenting and access, and the scientific legacy that paved the way for today's injectable peptide industry. The episode connects the historic quest for insulin to today's obsession with peptide injectables used for weight loss and muscle building.