The discovery of the first hormone, secretin, is a fascinating tale of scientific curiosity and experimental ingenuity. In the early 20th century, specifically in 1902, British physiologists Ernest Starling and William Bayliss embarked on a series of groundbreaking experiments at University College London.
Their quest was to understand the mechanisms behind digestion, particularly the role of the pancreas in responding to food in the intestines. Through meticulous vivisection experiments on anesthetized dogs, they made a pivotal observation.
By severing the nerves connecting the intestine to the pancreas, they noted that the pancreas still secreted digestive juices in response to the introduction of acid into the intestine. This observation led them to realize that the process was not controlled by nerves but rather by a chemical signal.
In 1902, during one such experiment, they discovered a substance released by the small intestine upon exposure to acid. This substance, which they named “secretin,” was found to stimulate the pancreas to release digestive enzymes into the intestines.
This discovery marked a pivotal moment in physiology, as it was the first documented instance of a chemical messenger, a hormone, orchestrating a physiological response in the body. Starling, in 1905, coined the term “hormone” itself to describe these chemical messengers that act at a distance to regulate bodily functions.
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1st discovered hormone
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