Episode 10: Hamster Ovaries & Nun Urine: the History of Fertility Medication

The Whole Pineapple

Imagine this: you’re standing in the Italian countryside when a tanker truck goes by. You catch a whiff of something odiferous, but it can’t be… or could it be? Is that truck full of pee?

It turns out we can thank some happy accidents, chance encounters, hamsters, and the urine from hundreds of Catholic nuns for our modern fertility medicine. Why and how? In today’s episode, we’re looking back in time for the stories behind the pharmaceuticals.  

Who discovered hormones? How was Clomid first synthesized? When and how were injectables introduced? And do we really share the same steroid receptors as sea sponges, jellyfish & worms? (Hint: Yes, yes we do). If you’re curious where your medicine comes from, buckle up for a wild ride!

References:

Letrozole for Female Infertility - PMC (nih.gov)

The strange story of a fertility drug made with the Pope’s blessing and gallons of nun urine — Quartz (qz.com)

Microsoft Word - s015approval.doc (fda.gov)

Follistim - Food and Drug Administration

The strange story of a fertility drug made with the Pope’s blessing and gallons of nun urine - Quartz

Microsoft Word - 2_9.docx (nih.gov)

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(17)31697-7/fulltext

https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S2661318219500026

https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(12)02308-4/fulltext

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4769851/

https://www.rbmojournal.com/article/S1472-6483(10)60937-6/pdf

https://www.listennotes.com/e/9a45236315e14b27968e46d636c1654a/