自1921年一个位于多伦多(Toronto)的实验室发现胰岛素以来的大半个世纪过去了,医学研究领域对胰岛素的认识曾仅限于它是糖尿病中缺少的激素。但实际上胰岛素的作用是很多的,研究人员一直试图了解这一切。胰岛素是脂肪和碳水化合物代谢的主要调节者,并且还控制着这些营养物质的储存。在人体细胞中,它刺激与细胞功能和生长有关的分子的合成,以及细胞内蛋白质甚至RNA和DNA分子的合成。 More than half a century has passed since a laboratory in Toronto in 1921 discovered insulin, and medical knowledge of insulin has been limited to the absence of hormones in diabetes. But in fact the role of insulin is very much, researchers have been trying to understand all this. Insulin is the main regulator of fat and carbohydrate metabolism and also controls the storage of these nutrients. In human cells, it stimulates the synthesis of molecules involved in cellular functions and growth, as well as the synthesis of intracellular proteins and even RNA and DNA molecules.