Brooklyn College
City University of New York

Science at a Distance

topic

Biological Energy

This Bio-Module requires the use of the text book "Exploring Life" by Professor John Blamire.

The Words of Science

hormone

A naturally occurring chemical compound that is produced and secreted by one part of a living organism, transported to another part of the organism, where it has a regulatory effect on a chemical or physiological process.
From the Greek word horman, meaning to set in motion.

Just above the kidneys are small lumps called the adrenal glands. In 1895 George Oliver and Edward Sharpey-Schafer found that the juices from these glands caused the contraction of the arteries and a consequent rise in blood pressure. This was the first example of a chemical produced in one place that influenced the behavior of a distant part of the body. In 1902 the English physiologists William Bayliss and E. Starling suggested that such chemicals be called hormones.

Words of Science