IVF pioneer wins medicine Nobel prize
British physiologist Robert Edwards (L), who helped revolutionise the treatment of human infertility, has clinched the 2010 Nobel prize for medicine or physiology.Photo: Reuters
British physiologist Robert Edwards, whose work led to the first test-tube baby, won the 2010 Nobel prize for medicine, the prize-awarding institute announced recently. Sweden's Karolinska Institute lauded Edwards, 85, for bringing joy and hope to the more than 10 percent of couples worldwide who suffer from infertility. 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.
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