| RefNo | EC/1971/05 |
| Previous numbers | Cert XIX, 5 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Copp, Douglas Harold: certificate of election to the Royal Society |
| Description | Citation typed |
| Citation | Copp's main contribution has been in the field of the physiology of calcium homeostasis. He developed methods of measuring bone blood flow and means of testing the current concept that parathyroid hormone was the main regulator of plasma calcium. His major contribution came as a development of these earlier methods. Perfusion experiments in the dog showed conclusively that a new hormone existed which lowered plasma calcium. He named this hormone calcitonin and subsequent work has shown that it plays a major role in calcium matabolism. Although subsequent studies showed that the thyroid rather than the parathyroid (as Copp first thought) was the main source of calcitonin in lower mammals, the essential part of his original contributions remain unchallenged.
Copp later followed up this work by confirming Pearse's conclusion that the calcitonin secreting cells in the thyroid were of ultimo-branchial origin. He did this by extracting calcitonin from the ultimo-branchial bodies of the chicken, thus demonstrating that these bodies were previously unrecognised endocrine organs. |
| AccessStatus | Open |
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Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA5385 | Copp; Douglas Harold (1915 - 1998) | 1915 - 1998 |