2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2010 is awarded to Robert G. Edwards for the development of in vitro fertilization.
Robert G Edwards
Photo: Ulf Sirborn
Robert G. Edwards achievements have made it possible to treat infertility, a medical condition afflicting a large proportion of humanity including more than 10 per cent of all couples worldwide.
Edwards has worked systematically since the early 1950's with IVF as treatment for infertility. He discovered important principles for human fertilization, and succeeded in accomplishing fertilization of human egg cells in test tubes. And on 25 July, 1978, the world's first "test tube baby" was born. Approximately four million individuals have so far been born following IVF.
