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Robert Edwards (physiologist)

English physiologist and pioneer in reproductive medicine (1925–2013) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert Edwards (physiologist)
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Sir Robert Geoffrey Edwards (27 September 1925 – 10 April 2013) was a British physiologist and pioneer in reproductive medicine, and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) in particular. Along with obstetrician and gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe[7] and nurse and embryologist Jean Purdy, Edwards successfully pioneered conception through IVF, which led to the birth of Louise Brown on 25 July 1978.[8] They founded the first IVF programme for infertile patients and trained other scientists in their techniques. Edwards was the founding editor-in-chief of Human Reproduction in 1986.[9] In 2010, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the development of in vitro fertilization".[10][11]

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Education and early career

Edwards was born in Batley, Yorkshire, and attended Manchester Central High School[1] on Whitworth Street in central Manchester, after which he served in the British Army, and then completed his undergraduate studies in biology, graduating with an ordinary degree from Bangor University.[12][13] He studied at the Institute of Animal Genetics and Embryology at the University of Edinburgh, where he was awarded a PhD in 1955 under the supervision of R.A. Beatty and C. H. Waddington.[5]

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Career and research

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After a year as a postdoctoral research fellow at the California Institute of Technology he joined the scientific staff of the National Institute for Medical Research at Mill Hill. After a further year at the University of Glasgow, in 1963 he moved to the University of Cambridge as Ford Foundation Research Fellow at the Department of Physiology, and a member of Churchill College, Cambridge. He was appointed Reader in physiology in 1969.[14]

Human Fertilization

Circa 1960 Edwards started to study human fertilisation, and he continued his work at Cambridge, laying the groundwork for his later success. In 1968 he was able to achieve fertilisation of a human egg in the laboratory and started to collaborate with Patrick Steptoe, a gynaecological surgeon from Oldham. Edwards developed human culture media to allow the fertilisation and early embryo culture, while Steptoe used laparoscopy to recover ovocytes from patients with tubal infertility. Their attempts met significant hostility and opposition,[15] including a refusal of the Medical Research Council to fund their research and several lawsuits.[16][17] Roger Gosden was one of his first graduate students.[4]

The birth of Louise Brown, the world's first 'test-tube baby', at 11:47 pm on 25 July 1978 at the Oldham General Hospital made medical history: in vitro fertilisation meant a new way to help infertile couples who formerly had no possibility of having a baby. Nurse Jean Purdy was the first to see Brown's embryo dividing.[18]

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Bourn Hall Clinic

Refinements in technology have increased pregnancy rates and it is estimated that in 2010 about 4 million children have been born by IVF,[10] with approximately 170,000 coming from donated oocyte and embryos.[19][20][21] Their breakthrough laid the groundwork for further innovations such as intracytoplasmatic sperm injection ICSI, embryo biopsy (PGD), and stem cell research.

Edwards, Purdy, and Steptoe founded the Bourn Hall Clinic as a place to advance their work and train new specialists. Purdy died in 1985 and Steptoe in 1988. Edwards continued in his career as a scientist and an editor of medical journals.

Honours and awards

Edwards received numerous honours and awards including:

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Politics

Edwards was a supporter of the Labour Party, and represented Newnham ward on Cambridge City Council for two terms, from 1973 to 1978.[33] He enjoyed the experience enough to consider at one stage standing for parliament, but nothing came of it.[34]

Personal life

Edwards married Ruth Fowler Edwards (1930–2013), also a scientist with significant work, granddaughter of 1908 Nobel laureate physicist Ernest Rutherford and daughter of physicist Ralph Fowler, in 1956.[35] The couple had five daughters and 12 grandchildren.[36]

Death

Edwards died at home near Cambridge, England[36] on 10 April 2013.[37][dead link] The Guardian said that, as of Edwards' death, more than four million births had resulted from IVF.[38]

A plaque was unveiled at the Bourn Hall Clinic in July 2013 by Louise Brown and Alastair MacDonald – the world's first IVF baby boy – commemorating Steptoe, Edwards and Purdy.[39]

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See also

References

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