Jean Purdy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Jean Marian Purdy 25 April 1945 Cambridge, England |
| Died | 16 March 1985 (aged 39) Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, England |
| Resting place | Grantchester, Cambridgeshire |
| Known for | In vitro fertilisation |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
Jean Marian Purdy (25 April 1945 – 16 March 1985)[1] was a British nurse, embryologist and pioneer of fertility treatment. She was responsible with Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe for developing in vitro fertilisation. Louise Joy Brown, the first test-tube baby, was born on 25 July 1978,[2][3] and Purdy was the first to see the embryonic cells dividing.[4]
Edwards was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the development of in vitro fertilisation; however, because the Nobel Prize is not awarded posthumously, neither Purdy nor Steptoe were eligible for consideration.[5] Purdy was a co-founder of the Bourn Hall Clinic but her role there and in the development of IVF was ignored for 30 years. Following the publication of Edwards' papers in the 2010s, her vital contributions to IVF have been publicly recognised.
- ^ Johnson, Martin H. (14 December 2018). "IVF: The women who helped make it happen". Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online. 8: 1–6. doi:10.1016/j.rbms.2018.11.002. ISSN 2405-6618. PMC 6352853. PMID 30723816.
- ^ "1978: First 'test tube baby' born". BBC News. 25 July 1978. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
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". The Independent. London. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
The 28-year-old, whose pioneering conception by in-vitro fertilisation made her famous around the world. The fertility specialists Patrick 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
- ^ Weule, Genelle (25 July 2018). "The first IVF baby was born 40 years ago today". ABC News. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "The 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – Press Release". The Nobel Prize. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2021.