Skip to main content
The Morning Star Shop
Hormones and control
The flexibility of the hormonal system in humans means that our biology is increasingly in our own hands, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
LIFE-CHANGING: A selection of contraceptive pill packs [Kate Whitley/Creative Commons]

A MULTICELLULAR organism is a spectacular thing. Like all other multicellular beings, we have cells that co-ordinate with each other during growth to diversify into different types. The co-ordination of this process in itself is an extraordinary endeavour: the average adult human is made up of about 30 trillion human cells of around 200 types.

There are several systems by which cells respond to and produce information. Sensory organs can produce triggers, the nervous system acts as an electrically based electrical wiring for superfast connectivity, and individual cells themselves can react to physical forces or to chemicals. These signalling chemicals, most of which circulate in our blood, are known as hormones.

Any circulating chemical that triggers change can be classified as a hormone, meaning they are a diverse group of chemicals. Some trigger organ growth, and those organs then go on to produce other hormones. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
UNRECOGNISED POTENTIA:L: Girl students conduct an experiment by throwing cotton balls to demonstrate the instinctive reaction of flinching at The Big Bang Fair 2025, for young scientists and engineers, at the NEC in Birmingham on June 18 2025
Science and Society / 16 July 2025
16 July 2025

What’s behind the stubborn gender gap in Stem disciplines ask ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT in their column Science and Society

The ruins of Guernica after it was bombed by the Nazis on April 26, 1937
Science and Society / 2 July 2025
2 July 2025

While politicians condemned fascist bombing of Spanish civilians in 1937, they ignored identical RAF tactics across the colonies. Today’s aerial warfare continues this pattern of applying different moral standards based on geography and race, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

LETHAL PLANS: Keir Starmer visits a defence contractor in Bedfordshire
Science and Society / 4 June 2025
4 June 2025

The distinction between domestic and military drones is more theoretical than practical, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

UNEASY COHABITATION: Southern Ridges, Singapore, 2015 Pic: Zairon/CC
Science and Society / 21 May 2025
21 May 2025

Nature's self-reconstruction is both intriguing and beneficial and as such merits human protection, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

 

Similar stories
(Left) Human embryonic stem cells; (right) A patient after i
Features / 26 March 2025
26 March 2025
A small Japanese trial has reported some positive results for stem cell therapy to treat spinal-cord injuries
ARTICHOKES GALORE: (L to R) Growing in a allotment and cooke
Gardening / 3 January 2025
3 January 2025
Although there’s not much growing in the garden in January, globe artichokes are worth a try if you follow these tips from MAT COWARD
(L to R) The autumn senescence of grape leaves is programmed
Science and Society / 6 November 2024
6 November 2024
Genetic engineering to remove a structure from plant cells called the Golgi body sheds light on how leaves change with the seasons, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
A 2600BC depiction of a king in Sumer, an early human civili
Science and Society / 22 October 2024
22 October 2024
ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT examine how new genetic research reveals the rapid pace of human evolution in response to agricultural development, offering insights Marx would have found fascinating