Sir Robert EdwardsBorn 27 Sep 1925; died 10 Apr 2013 at age 87.Robert Geoffrey Edwards was a British medical researcher who, with Patrick Steptoe, perfected in-vitro fertilization (IVF) of the human egg. Their technique made possible the birth of Louise Brown, the world's first “test-tube baby,” on 25 Jul 1978, to parents that had previously spent nine years trying to start a family. Edwards became the sole recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, in 2010, “for the development of in vitro fertilization.” (His colleague, Steptoe could not be a posthumous recipient; he died in 1988.) They began in the late 1960s, but their research had to be privately financed, since the medical establishment found the idea of a “test-tube baby” repugnant. So they worked in a secluded laboratory at a small hospital in Oldham. It took persistence with over 100 frustrating failures before the first success. Millions of births have since been enabled by IVF.« |
