Nobel Prize for Robert Edwards
Posted by Eva Amsen, on 4 October 2010
Robert Edwards has just been announced as winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for his work on in vitro fertilization (IVF)
We speculated about the winners a few weeks ago, and he was not among anyone’s guesses, but this is a very exciting and timely choice. Just last Friday I mentioned that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority will likely be cut. This is the body that regulates all IVF research in the UK, where Edwards work took place. Hopefully this award will bring the relevance of such regulatory bodies in the spotlight again.
Edwards worked together with gynecologist Patrick Steptoe, who died in 1988. Nobel Prizes are not awarded posthumously, which explains why he’s not included in the award.
The Nobel Prize website will be livestreaming all announcements of Nobel Prize winners this week. The Chemistry prize – which has predominantly been awarded to biology-related research the past decade – is announced on Wednesday.
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It’s a good choice considering that he was quite significantly involved in determining the roles on different hormones on the ova and everything.
This will be a wonderful hope to the Embryology research in the UK!