Nobel Prize awarded to test tube baby pioneer
Source: Agencies |
October 5, 2010, Tuesday
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Britain's Robert Edwards won the 2010 Nobel Prize in medicine yesterday for developing in-vitro fertilization, a breakthrough that has helped millions of infertile couples have children but also ignited an enduring controversy with religious groups.
Edwards, an 85-year-old professor emeritus at the University of Cambridge, started working on IVF as early as the 1950s. He developed the technique - in which eggs are removed from a woman, fertilized outside her body and then implanted into the womb - with gynecologist Patrick Steptoe, who died in 1988.
On July 25, 1978, Louise Brown became the first "test tube" baby born through the groundbreaking procedure, marking a revolution in fertility treatment.
"Edwards' achievements have made it possible to treat infertility, a medical condition afflicting a large proportion of humanity, including more than 10 percent of all couples worldwide," the medicine prize committee in Stockholm said in its citation.
"Approximately 4 million individuals have been born thanks to IVF," the citation said. "Today, Robert Edwards' vision is a reality and brings joy to infertile people all over the world."
Despite facing resistance from Britain's medical establishment, Steptoe and Edwards spent years developing IVF from early experiments into a practical course of medicine. In 1980, they founded the world's first IVF clinic, at Bourn Hall in Cambridge.
Today, the probability that an infertile couple will take home a baby after a cycle of IVF is one in five, about the same odds that healthy couples have of conceiving naturally. Every year, about 300,000 babies worldwide are born through IVF, according to the European Society of Human Reproduction.
Prize committee secretary Goran Hansson said Edwards was not in good health when the committee tried to reach him yesterday.
"I spoke to his wife and she was delighted and she was sure he would be delighted too," Hansson told reporters in Stockholm after announcing the 10 million kronor (US$1.5 million) award.
"Louise's birth signified so much," Edwards said at Brown's 25th birthday celebration in 2003. "We had to fight a lot of opposition but we had concepts that we thought would work and they worked."
Brown said yesterday: "It's fantastic news, me and mum are so glad that one of the pioneers of IVF has been given the recognition he deserves. We hold Bob in great affection and are delighted to send our personal congratulations."
The work by Edwards and Steptoe stirred a "lively ethical debate," the Nobel citation said, with the Vatican, other religious leaders and some scientists demanding the project be stopped.
Edwards, an 85-year-old professor emeritus at the University of Cambridge, started working on IVF as early as the 1950s. He developed the technique - in which eggs are removed from a woman, fertilized outside her body and then implanted into the womb - with gynecologist Patrick Steptoe, who died in 1988.
On July 25, 1978, Louise Brown became the first "test tube" baby born through the groundbreaking procedure, marking a revolution in fertility treatment.
"Edwards' achievements have made it possible to treat infertility, a medical condition afflicting a large proportion of humanity, including more than 10 percent of all couples worldwide," the medicine prize committee in Stockholm said in its citation.
"Approximately 4 million individuals have been born thanks to IVF," the citation said. "Today, Robert Edwards' vision is a reality and brings joy to infertile people all over the world."
Despite facing resistance from Britain's medical establishment, Steptoe and Edwards spent years developing IVF from early experiments into a practical course of medicine. In 1980, they founded the world's first IVF clinic, at Bourn Hall in Cambridge.
Today, the probability that an infertile couple will take home a baby after a cycle of IVF is one in five, about the same odds that healthy couples have of conceiving naturally. Every year, about 300,000 babies worldwide are born through IVF, according to the European Society of Human Reproduction.
Prize committee secretary Goran Hansson said Edwards was not in good health when the committee tried to reach him yesterday.
"I spoke to his wife and she was delighted and she was sure he would be delighted too," Hansson told reporters in Stockholm after announcing the 10 million kronor (US$1.5 million) award.
"Louise's birth signified so much," Edwards said at Brown's 25th birthday celebration in 2003. "We had to fight a lot of opposition but we had concepts that we thought would work and they worked."
Brown said yesterday: "It's fantastic news, me and mum are so glad that one of the pioneers of IVF has been given the recognition he deserves. We hold Bob in great affection and are delighted to send our personal congratulations."
The work by Edwards and Steptoe stirred a "lively ethical debate," the Nobel citation said, with the Vatican, other religious leaders and some scientists demanding the project be stopped.
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