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Josef, Baron von Mering (28 February 1849, in Cologne – 5 January 1908, at Halle an der Saale, Germany) was a German physician.
Working at the University of Strasbourg, Mering was the first person to discover (in conjunction with Oskar Minkowski) that one of the pancreatic functions is the production of
Joseph von Mering
at Encyclopædia Britannica 1849 births 1908 deaths 19th-century German physicians Physicians from Cologne People from the Rhine Province University of Bonn alumni University of Greifswald alumni University of Strasbourg alumni University of Strasbourg faculty Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg faculty {{Germany-med-bio-stub
Josef, Baron von Mering (28 February 1849, in Cologne – 5 January 1908, at Halle an der Saale, Germany) was a German physician.
Working at the University of Strasbourg, Mering was the first person to discover (in conjunction with Oskar Minkowski) that one of the pancreatic functions is the production of insulin
Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...
, a hormone which controls blood sugar levels.
Mering was curious about the pancreas, a comma
The comma is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark () in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline ...
shaped organ, situated between the stomach and the small intestine
The small intestine or small bowel is an organ in the gastrointestinal tract where most of the absorption of nutrients from food takes place. It lies between the stomach and large intestine, and receives bile and pancreatic juice through the p ...
. In an effort to discover its function, he removed the organ from a dog. The dog was then noticed frequently urinating on the floor, although it was house trained. Mering realised that this was a symptom of diabetes and tested the urine, which was found to be high in sugar, confirming his suspicion.
Josef von Mering helped to discover barbiturates
Barbiturates are a class of depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological addiction potential as ...
, a class of sedative drugs used for insomnia, epilepsy, anxiety, and anesthesia. In 1903, he published observations that barbital (then known as diethyl-barbituric acid) has sedative properties in humans. In 1904, he helped to launch barbital under the brand name Veronal. Veronal was the first commercially available barbiturate sedative in any country. Von Mering collaborated with the chemist Emil Fischer, who was also involved in the discovery of barbital.
References
Joseph von Mering
at Encyclopædia Britannica 1849 births 1908 deaths 19th-century German physicians Physicians from Cologne People from the Rhine Province University of Bonn alumni University of Greifswald alumni University of Strasbourg alumni University of Strasbourg faculty Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg faculty {{Germany-med-bio-stub