Frederick Grant Banting was born to a farming family just north of Toronto. He struggled through school and was finally allowed to enter the University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine. As soon as he graduated he aimed to join the Canadian effort in World War I and was admitted to the Army Medical Corps. He served in France and was injured towards the end of the war. He received the Military Cross for continuing to treat patients despite his wounds and the enemy fire.

In 1921 he moved to Toronto to research a method to treat diabetes. With his assistant, Charles Best, he experimented with dogs, causing a secretion from the pancreas that he then used to treat diabetic dogs. There was immediate success and the research was joined by a number of other people, including Banting's supervisor, John Macleod. By 1922 they had achieved success - a dying boy in Toronto was treated with insulin purified from an ox pancreas.

Banting won the Nobel Prize in 1923 and was the most famous man in Canada. He gave half of his winnings to Charles Best. As war broke out again in Europe, Banting wanted to be involved and participated in studies on chemical warfare. He died after a plane crash on the way to England, taking the time to dress the pilot's wounds before his own.