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Review
. 2014 Jun;3(2):95-100.
doi: 10.1159/000360534. Epub 2014 Mar 13.

Historical note: many steps led to the 'discovery' of thyroid-stimulating hormone

James Magner  1
Affiliations
Review

Historical note: many steps led to the 'discovery' of thyroid-stimulating hormone

James Magner. Eur Thyroid J. 2014 Jun.

Abstract

Finding thyroid-stimulating hormone was a process rather than a circumscribed event, and many talented persons participated over many years. Key early participants were Bennet M. Allen and Philip E. Smith who had the misfortune just prior to World War I of independently and simultaneously starting very similar experiments with tadpoles. This led to a series of back and forth publications attempting to establish priority for finding evidence of a thyrotropic factor in the anterior pituitary. Decades of work by others would be required before sophisticated biochemical techniques would bring us to our modern understanding.

Keywords: Discovery; History of science; Thyroid-stimulating hormone.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Tadpoles as published in the Anatomical Record by Smith [2] in 1916.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Philip E. Smith, undated.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Bennet M. Allen, 1899.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
John G. Pierce, undated.
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References

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    1. Smith PE. The effect of hypophysectomy in the early embryo upon the growth and development of the frog. Anat Rec. 1916;11:57–64.
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