In Chapter 3 of Genentech, Hughes discusses the company's work with somatostatin. Immediately after reading, I was curious about somatostatin. I wanted to know what it was, what it was used for, and what would happen if our bodies didn't produce it. I did some research, and found a pretty cool site called: http://www.yourhormones.info. This site breaks down each of the hormones that our body produces, and gives the basic information about what the hormone is, how and where in the body it's made, and what happens if there is a surplus or deficiency of that hormone in the body. So, let's get back to somatostatin! If you check out the site, you will find the following information:

What is it:

It is a hormone that regulates secretion of other hormones, regulates the activity of the gastrointestinal tract, and regulates the production of tumor cells.

Where is it produced in the body:

Somatostatin is produced in the pancreas, gastrointestinal tract, and in the hypothalamus. In the pancreas it controls the production of glucagon and insulin. In the gastrointestinal tract it controls production of gastrin and secretin. In the hypothalamus it controls the secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary gland.

Deficiency:

Although rare, there could be too much secretion of growth hormone.

Surplus:

There would be an extreme reduction in secretion of other endocrine hormones. This could lead to ailments like diabetes or gallstones.

This photo of Somatostatin above  was taken from Wikipedia.