The 1923 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared by the Canadian surgeon Frederick G. Banting (1891–1941) and the British physiologist John J. R. Macleod (1876–1935) “for the discovery of insulin”, was remarkable on several accounts. Both Banting and Macleod were first-time nominees, which is not surprising since their research on insulin at the University of Toronto only started in earnest in May 1921 and the first successful clinical trials were reported early in 1922. An expeditious recognition for sure, but one that was entirely consistent with Alfred Nobel’s will, which stated that the prizes he endowed should be given “to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”. Banting, 20 days shy of his 32nd birthday at the time of the announcement by the Karolinska Institute on 25 October 1923, was (and remains) the youngest recipient of the Physiology or Medicine Nobel Prize.