somatotropin

[ suh-mat-uh-troh-pin, soh-muh-tuh- ]

noun

, Biochemistry.

1. a hormone secreted by the anterior pituitary gland, that stimulates growth in humans.

Word History and Origins

Origin of somatotropin¹

1940–45; somatotrop(hic) stimulating body growth ( somato-, trophic ) + -in ²

Example Sentences

One of Mr. Cummins’s frequent targets was recombinant bovine somatotropin, or bovine growth hormone, a genetically engineered hormone, produced by Monsanto, that stimulates milk production in cows.

From New York Times

The product is bovine somatotropin, a natural protein found in cattle that has been artificially mass-produced in the labs of several pharmaceutical firms.

From Time Magazine Archive

E. coli makes a vital hormone Somatotropin is one of the body's important chemicals.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the most dramatic display yet of the controversial genetic engineering technique known as recombinant DNA, independent teams at the University of California in San Francisco and at a small commercial research firm, Genentech Inc., in nearby Palo Alto, used human pituitary tissue to construct the gene, or DNA segment, responsible for the production of somatotropin.

From Time Magazine Archive