Testosterone, first male sex hormone isolated
Testosterona, primera hormona sexual masculina aislada
- Date
- 1935 · confidence high
- Place
- University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Credited to
- Karoly Gyula David, Elisabeth Dingemanse, János Freud and Ernst Laqueur
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Laqueur's team isolated pure testosterone from bull testicles, identifying the hormone responsible for male sexual characteristics just weeks before Butenandt and Ružička achieved its chemical synthesis.
Butenandt and Ružička chemically synthesised testosterone weeks later, also in 1935; they shared the 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
What it led to
- Endocrinology of sex hormones as a discipline
- Hormone replacement therapy and anabolic steroids
- 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Butenandt and Ružička
Built on
Made possible
- Cortisone therapy1948-1949
- Hormonal contraceptives