Israel Kleiner (biochemist)

Israel Kleiner was a pioneering biochemist known for his significant contributions to the field of diabetes research and the early studies of insulin. His work in the early 20th century laid the groundwork for the discovery of insulin, a hormone that plays a critical role in the regulation of blood sugar levels.

Early Life and Education

Israel Kleiner was born in the late 19th century. Details about his early life, including his birth date and place, are scarce. He pursued higher education in the field of chemistry, eventually focusing on biochemistry, a discipline that was still in its infancy at the time.

Career and Research

Kleiner's most notable work took place at the Rockefeller Institute (now known as the Rockefeller University) in New York City. During the 1910s, he conducted groundbreaking experiments that demonstrated the existence of a substance in the pancreas that could lower blood sugar levels in dogs. This substance would later be identified as insulin.

His experiments involved removing the pancreas from dogs to induce diabetes, and then injecting them with extracts from the pancreatic tissue of healthy dogs. Kleiner observed a significant reduction in the blood sugar levels of the diabetic dogs after the injections, providing early evidence that the pancreas secreted a substance that could control glucose metabolism.

Despite the groundbreaking nature of his work, Kleiner's research did not lead to the immediate discovery of insulin. It was not until a few years later, in the early 1920s, that Frederick Banting and Charles Best, working at the University of Toronto, successfully isolated insulin and demonstrated its therapeutic potential in treating diabetes.

Legacy

Israel Kleiner's contributions to biochemistry and diabetes research are often overshadowed by the later achievements of Banting and Best. However, his early experiments were crucial in establishing the foundation for the discovery of insulin, which has since saved countless lives around the world.

Kleiner's work exemplifies the importance of basic scientific research and its potential to lead to significant medical breakthroughs. His pioneering experiments in the early 20th century remain a testament to his foresight and dedication to understanding the biochemical mechanisms underlying diabetes.

See Also

• Insulin
• Diabetes
• Frederick Banting
• Charles Best
• Rockefeller Institute