Hunt for the Elusive Neuropeptides

The intense rivalry between Roger Guillemin and Andrew Schally revolutionized neuroendocrinology through the isolation of hypothalamic releasing hormones. Following their initial collaboration at Baylor University, the two researchers pursued bitter, independent competition at the Salk Institute and the New Orleans Veterans Administration. Overcoming immense biochemical barriers, their laboratories utilized industrial scale processing of slaughterhouse tissue, extracting vanishingly small concentrations of active peptides from millions of animal brains to successfully isolate thyrotropin releasing hormone and gonadotropin releasing hormone.