John RockBorn 24 Mar 1890; died 4 Dec 1984 at age 94.John Charles Rock was an American obstetrician and gynaecologist who was an expert in human fertility, the first to fertilize a human egg in the laboratory, who co-developed the birth control pill. On 6 Feb 1944, with Harvard scientist Miriam F. Menkin, Rock produced the first laboratory-fertilized, two-cell human egg in a test-tube. He is also credited with the first recorded recovery of human embryos 2-17 days after fertilization, as well as establishing the fact that ovulation occurs fourteen days before menstruation. Through collaborative activities of philanthropist Catherine Dexter McCormick, researcher and biologist Gregory Pinkus, Rock, and other scientists, the birth control pill was developed, and it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (1957) for marketing to “treat gynecologic disorders.” Rock was best known for this contribution to the development and government approval of the oral contraceptive, and also popularizing and selling it to a skeptical world. |
