doc
Winter 2016 • Kentucky
During his research career, as early as the 1950s, Edwards became fascinated
with the concept of fertilizing human eggs in the laboratory as a potential
treatment for human infertility.
of Science degree, then a Doctor of Science
degree from UCNW, followed by a Ph.D.
from the University of Edinburgh’s Institute
of Animal Genetics.
During his research career, as early as the
1950s, Edwards became fascinated with
the concept of fertilizing human eggs in the
laboratory as a potential treatment for human
infertility.
Through painstaking and lengthy studies,
Edwards came to understand how human
eggs could be fertilized outside the body, and
developed a cultural medium in which such
fertilization could take place.
In 1968, Edwards contacted Dr. Patrick
Steptoe, a British gynecologist who was one
of the pioneers of laparoscopy, a surgical
technique that could enable the eggs to be
removed from the ovaries, and a collaboration was born.
While Edwards managed to fertilize a
human egg in 1969, the success was very limited, in that the egg failed to develop beyond
a single cell division.
The researchers continued their work over
the next decade, refining their techniques in
an effort to fertilize viable eggs and implant
them in the womb. By using the laparoscopic
technique, Edwards and Steptoe were able to
extract eggs that had matured in the ovaries,
providing a better chance for successful in
vitro fertilization.
Edwards’ and Steptoe’s work continued for
ten years, during which they were criticized
on a number of fronts, from arguments that
in vitro fertilization was “unnatural” and was,
essentially “playing God”, to assertions that
the process would create infants that might
be deformed and afflicted with terminal
illnesses as the result of unsuccessful experimentation.
Nevertheless, the two researchers pressed
on. Their perseverance paid off when they
were approached by Leslie and John Brown,
a couple who had been trying to have a child
for nine years. The in vitro fertilization was
completed, the fertilized egg was implanted
in Leslie Brown’s body and a healthy girl,
Louise Brown, was delivered by c-section on
July 25, 1978 after a full-term pregnancy.
Edwards and Steptoe founded Bourn Hall
Clinic in Cambridge, England in 1980, and
trained gynecologists and cell biologists from
around the world in the new technique.
Edwards served as scientific director of
Bourn Hall Clinic from 1988 to 1991, and as
head of research until his retirement, while
Steptoe served as medical director until his
death in 1988.
Edwards won the Nobel Prize in medicine
for his in vitro fertilization work in 2010.
Steptoe would presumably have shared the
prize, but Nobels are not awarded posthumously.
Edwards died April 10 of 2013 at the age
of 87 at his home near Cambridge, England.
Since the successful birth of Louise Brown
in 1978, millions of couples throughout
the world have benefited from the work of
Robert Edwards and his fellow researcher,
Patrick Steptoe.
Are you disabled?
Pamela Hofer
Midwest Regional Manager
conveniently located in
Morehead, KY
www.disabilityhc.com
9