Struggle for insulin. The discovery of insulin and its development into one of the most widespread drugs is in many aspects a unique story in modern medicine. Started by two fully inexperienced young researchers, F. Banting and Ch. Best, it ended up - preliminary - with the awarding of the Nobel Prize (1923) within the mere three years. Disputed, even today, is the story of the Prize itself: were all awardees truly participating on the discovery? Similar discussions concerning recent awarding are resumed also nowadays. Three salient milestones then marked further development in the insulin story: manufacturing of a useful clinical substance (thanks to Eli Lily Company), elucidation of insulin structure and its synthesis, and its production by gene recombinant technology. Among others, the last procedure greatly facilitates syntheses of clinically useful analogs of insulin.