Sir Robert Geoffrey Edwards (27 September 1925 – 10 April 2013) was a Britishphysiologist and pioneer inreproductive medicine, andin-vitro fertilisation (IVF) in particular. Along with obstetrician and gynaecologistPatrick Steptoe[7] and nurse and embryologistJean Purdy, Edwards successfully pioneered conception through IVF, which led to the birth ofLouise Brown on25 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 ofHuman Reproduction in 1986.[9] In 2010, he was awarded theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the development of in vitro fertilization".[10][11]
Circa 1960 Edwards started to study humanfertilisation, 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 withPatrick Steptoe, agynaecological surgeon fromOldham. Edwards developed human culture media to allow the fertilisation and earlyembryo culture, while Steptoe usedlaparoscopy to recoverovocytes from patients with tubalinfertility. Their attempts met significant hostility and opposition,[15] including a refusal of theMedical Research Council to fund their research and several lawsuits.[16][17]Roger Gosden was one of his first graduate students.[3]
The birth ofLouise Brown, the world's first 'test-tube baby', at11:47 pm on25 July 1978 at theOldham 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. NurseJean Purdy was the first to see Brown's embryo dividing.[18]
Bourn Hall Clinic
Refinements in technology have increased pregnancy rates and it is estimated that in 2010 about4 million children have been born by IVF,[10] with approximately 170,000 coming from donatedoocyte and embryos.[19][20][21] Their breakthrough laid the groundwork for further innovations such as intracytoplasmatic sperm injectionICSI, embryo biopsy (PGD), andstem cell research.
Edwards, Purdy, and Steptoe founded theBourn 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.
In 2001, he was awarded the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award by theLasker Foundation "for the development of in vitro fertilization, a technological advance that has revolutionized the treatment of human infertility."[23]
In 2002, he was awarded Grand Hamdan International Award - Obstetrics & Gynecology by Hamdan Medical Award.[24]
In 2007, he was ranked 26th inThe Daily Telegraph's list of 100 greatest living geniuses.[25]
On 4 October 2010, it was announced that Edwards had been awarded the 2010Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the development of in-vitro fertilisation.[10] The Nobel Committee praised him for advancing the treatment of infertility and noted that babies of IVF have similar health statuses to other babies.[26]Göran K. Hansson, secretary of the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, announced the news.[26] The first child of IVFLouise Brown described the award as "fantastic news".[27] AVatican official condemned the move as "completely out of order".[27][28] As mentioned bySimon Fishel, "In December 2010, at the Nobel awards ceremony that was full of pathos in Bob's absence, these precious words were spoken, 'In the absence of this year's Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, I ask Professor Edwards' wife and long-term scientific companion, DrRuth Fowler Edwards, to come forward and receive his Prize from the hands of His Majesty the King'".[29]”
Edwards featured in theBBC Radio 4 seriesThe New Elizabethans to mark thediamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2012. A panel of seven academics, journalists, and historians named him among the group of people in the UK "whose actions during the reign of Elizabeth II have had a significant impact on lives in these islands and given the age its character".[32]
Edwards was a supporter of theLabour Party, and representedNewnham ward onCambridge 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]
Edwards marriedRuth Fowler Edwards (1930–2013), also a scientist with significant work, granddaughter of 1908 Nobel laureate physicistErnest Rutherford and daughter of physicistRalph Fowler, in 1956.[35] The couple had five daughters and 12 grandchildren.[36]
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]
"1978: First 'test tube baby' born". BBC. 25 July 1978. Retrieved13 June 2009.The birth of the world's first "test-tube baby" has been announced in Manchester (England). Louise Brown was born shortly before midnight in Oldham and District General Hospital
Moreton, Cole (14 January 2007)."World's first test-tube baby Louise Brown has a child of her own".Independent. London. Retrieved22 May 2010.The 28-year-old, whose pioneering conception by in-vitro fertilisation made her famous around the world ... The fertility specialistsPatrick Steptoe and Bob Edwards became the first to successfully carry out IVF by extracting an egg, impregnating it with sperm, and planting the resulting embryo back into the mother.
^Fraser L. R. (2000). "In Appreciation of Professor R. G. Edwards, Founding Editor of the Human Reproduction Journals".MHR: Basic Science of Reproductive Medicine.6 (5): 3.doi:10.1093/molehr/6.5.3.PMID10775640.
^Johnson, Martin H.,"Edwards, Sir Robert Geoffrey (Bob) (1925–2013)",Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, online edition, January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2024.(subscription required)
