IVF pioneer wins Nobel prize in medicine

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CHINA: Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan speaking during the RMB Cross-border Trade and Investment Forum at Hong Kong government headquarters Wednesday. — Reuters Photo

STOCKHOLM, Oct 04 (Reuters): British physiologist Robert Edwards, whose work led to the first "test-tube baby," won the 2010 Nobel prize for medicine or physiology, the prize-awarding institute said Monday.
Sweden's Karolinska Institute lauded Edwards, 85, for bringing joy to infertile people all over the world.
Known as the father of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), Edwards picked up the prize of 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.5 million) for what the institute called a "milestone in the development of modern medicine."
As many as 4 million babies have been born since the first IVF baby in 1978 as a result of the techniques Edwards developed, together with a now-deceased colleague, Patrick Steptoe, the institute said in a statement.
The pair soldiered on despite opposition from churches, governments and many in the media, as well as skepticism from scientific colleagues. They also had trouble raising money for their work, and had to rely on privately donated funds.
"His achievements have made it possible to treat infertility, a medical condition afflicting a large proportion of humanity including more than 10 percent of all couples worldwide," the institute said.
In 1968, Edwards and Steptoe, a gynecologist, developed methods to fertilise human eggs outside the body.
Working at Cambridge University, they began replacing embryos into infertile mothers in 1972. But several pregnancies spontaneously aborted due to what they later discovered were flawed hormone treatments.
In 1977, they tried a new procedure which did not involve hormone treatments and relied instead on precise timing. On July 25 of the next year, Louise Brown, the first IVF baby, was born.
The birth of Louise was a media sensation as it raised questions about medical ethics, drew religious concerns and piqued basic human curiosity.
Many wondered whether an IVF baby would grow up normally.
"Long-term follow-up studies have shown that IVF children are as healthy as other children," Karolinska said.