MorethanfourdecadesagoBritishscientistRobertEdwardsfirstwitnessedthemiracleofhumanlifegrowinginsideatesttubeathisCambridgelab．Sincethatground-breakingmomentmorethanfourmillionbabieshavebeenbornthroughIVFandin2010hisgreatcontributiontosciencewasfinallyrecognizedashewasawardedtheNobelPrizeformedicine．

TheprizeforDrEdwardswhowasgivenaDailyMirrorPrideofBritainAwardin2008includesa￡900000cheque．TheNobelAssemblydescribedIVFasa"milestoneinmodernmedicine"．

WiththehelpoffellowscientistPatrickSteptoetheManchester-bornphysiologistdevelopedIVF—leadingtothebirthoftheworld'sfirsttesttubebaby．DrSteptoedied10yearslaterbuttheirworkhastransformedfertilitytreatmentandgivenhopetomillionsofcouples．

Itwasascientificbreakthroughthattransformedthelivesofmillionsofcouples．Theysaid:"Hisachievementshavemadeitpossibletotreatinfertilityadiseasewhichmakeshumanunabletohaveababy．Thisconditionhasbeenafflictingalargepercentageofmankindincludingmorethan10%ofallcouplesworldwide．"

LouiseBrowntheworld'sfirsttesttubebabymadeinternationalheadlineswhenshewasborninOldhamGtrManchesterin1978toparentsLesleyandJohnwhohadbeenfruitlesslytryingforababysince1969．

Ivf-in-vitrofertilisationistheprocesswherebyeggcellsarefertilisedoutsidethebodybeforebeingimplantedinthewomb．AfteracycleofIVFtheprobabilityofacouplewithinfertilityproblemshavingababyisoneinfive—thesameashealthycoupleswhoconceivenaturally．

ProfessorEdwardswhohasfivedaughtersand11grandchildrenbeganhisresearchatCambridgeUniversityin1963afterreceivinghisPhDin1955．Heoncesaid:"Themostimportantthinginlifeishavingachild．Nothingismorespecialthanachild．"WiththehelpoffellowscientistPatrickSteptoeProf．EdwardsfoundedtheBournHallclinicinCambridgeshirewhichnowtreatsmorethan900womenayear．Eachyearmorethan30000womeninBritainnowundergoIVFand11000babiesarebornasaresultofthetreatment．

ButhisworkattractedwidespreadcriticismfromsomescientistsandtheCatholicChurchwhosaiditwas"unethicalandimmoral"．

MartinJo