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Studying Fertilization
Edwards started to study human fertilization at Cambridge. His interest in the genetics of animals led to him wanting to study the topic. He also enjoyed the idea of tackling a topic that had not been dealt with before due to certain moral issues in the field, he wanted to create a reasonable bio ethical thought process for his research. -
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Expirementing on Mice
Edwards began studying rats and mice, forcing immature eggs to be released into the ovulatory hormone human chronic gonadotrophin. However, the study showed that the eggs had the same chance of maturing, with or without the hormone being added. -
Paper against other Scientist
A paper written by Edwards suggesting that Pincus' research on human eggs was false. He concluded through his studies that the few eggs maturing after biopsy were from in-vivo stimulation. The paper ends with an outlandish experiment, where he attempts to recover removed ovarian tissue by injecting it with hormones, which fails. -
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Getting the Tissue Samples
Edwards needed ovarian tissue to continue his research. He would not be able to retrieve this due to his lack of a professional medical background. Through multiple scientists, he met Molly Rose, who provided tissue for im to work with for the next ten years. -
Chapel Hill Sperm Studies
By this point, Edwards had been studying his dilemma with a small team, including his wife. He finally figured that he had to fix the very end of maturation of the embryo, where the most problems occurred. He went to Chapel Hill to try to study capacitation, most of his experiments failed. -
Process of IVF
Edwards finally discovered how to fertilize a human egg and make millions of births possible. You first need to fertilize and egg, only to remove it from the women. It is placed in a petri dish, where it is treated with multiple hormones in order to pass that certain stage of development where most embryos fail. The egg is then put back into the women, where it can continue to grow into a chile. -
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Fertalizing a Human Egg
During this year, Edwards successfully fertilized a human egg. He began to work with Patrick Steptoe, a gynecologic surgeon. Steptoe used laparoscopy to study the infertile tubes, while Edwards worked on the early embryo to continue it's growth. -
"The Test Tube Baby"
Louise Brown, referred to as "Test Tube Baby" by the media, was born on this day. She was the first child born using the the new IVF system. She was created in a petri dish and was born through a planned Caesarean section, weighing 5 pounds and 12 oz. -
Nobel Prize
On this day, it was announce that Robert Edwards would be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He would receive the award in December of that year. His invention has helped create four million babies be born. -
Sources
DNews. "Father of In Vitro Fertilization Wins Nobel Prize : Discovery News." Seeker. Seeker, 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 23 May 2017.
Kolata, Gina. "Robert G. Edwards Dies at 87; Changed Rules of Conception With First ‘Test Tube Baby’." The New York Times. The New York Times, 10 Apr. 2013. Web. 23 May 2017.
Johnson, Martin H. "Robert Edwards: the path to IVF." Reproductive Biomedicine Online. Elsevier, Aug. 2011. Web. 23 May 2017. -
Sources Part 2
"The Embryo Project Encyclopedia." Robert Geoffrey Edwards (1925-2013) | The Embryo Project Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2017.