Substantially pure bovine pituitary fibroblast growth factor, a 146 amino acid residue polypeptide, is produced. The amino acid residue sequence of bpFGF is disclosed as well as a DNA chain encoding the polypeptide. By appropriately inserting a synthesized DNA chain into a cloning vector and using the cloning vector to transform cells, synthetic bpFGF can be obtained from transformed cell lines, both prokaryotic and eukaryotic.