Charles Best (medical scientist) and Noble flipped a coin to see which would assist Banting first. Best won and took the first shift. Loss of the coin toss proved unfortunate for Noble, given that Banting decided to keep Best for the entire summer and eventually shared half of his Nobel Prize money and a part of the credit for the discovery of insulin. Had Noble won the toss, his career might have taken a different path. MacLeod was overseeing the work of Banting, who had no experience of physiology, and his assistant Best. In December, when Banting and Best were having difficulties in refining
Charles Best (medical scientist) Best, a Canadian politician and geneticist. He died on March 31, 1978 in Toronto, Ontario. Best is interred in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto (section 29) not far from Sir Frederick Banting. Best moved in 1915 to Toronto, Ontario, where he started studying towards a bachelor of arts degree at University College, University of Toronto. In 1918, he enlisted in the Canadian Army serving with the 2nd Canadian Tank Battalion. After the war, he completed his degree in physiology and biochemistry. As a 22-year-old medical student at the University of Toronto he worked as an assistant to the surgeon Dr. Frederick