discovery
Before radioactive tracing, biological discoveries took place by more invasive procedures. Minkowski and Mering studied the function of various glands by surgically removing them from animals and observing their effects.
In one experiment, the duo removed the pancreas from a few dogs and kept them all at one kennel. They noticed that the dogs became fatigued within hours.
They also noticed that ants appeared at those kennels, yet there were no ants in kennels whose dogs were healthy.
They also noticed that ants appeared at those kennels, yet there were no ants in kennels whose dogs were healthy.
The pancreas releases insulin into the body. Insulin triggers cells to allow the uptake of glucose from the blood so that it could be metabolized and used as energy.
Without the release of insulin, glucose stays in the blood stream and does not enter the body's cells. The dogs became fatigued because they didn't metabolize glucose and had no energy. |
The glucose circulating in the bloodstream was eventually expelled from the body in the form of urine. Ants appeared in the kennels because they were attracted to the sweet glucose of the urine.
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