The jewelry shows the three-dimensional structure of insulin in 1.2 mm silver wire. The two protein threads, A & B, are enamelled yellow and red respectively.

Insulin is a hormone which lowers blood sugar levels. F. Banting and J. McLeod were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1923 for the discovery of insulin. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1958 was awarded to F. Sanger for his work on the insulin structure, a discovery that was fundamental to the production of synthetic insulin.