IVF and embryo transfer: historical origin and development

Abstract

IVF and embryo transfer for the treatment of human infertility has now resulted in the birth of over 4 million babies. The technique did not arise as a quantum event but was built on the efforts of many earlier workers in the fields of reproductive endocrinology and development. One should remember the famous saying of Isaac Newton: 'If I have seen further than most, it is because I have stood on the shoulder's of giants'. Ethical and moral issues have always arisen when investigators study early mammalian development, particularly human development. This paper documents these earlier studies and also draws attention to the ethical and moral arguments that inevitably arose.

Retrospective comparative study of the factors affecting birthweights in frozen‐thawed embryo transfer, compared to fresh embryo transfer

“…Since the first successful pregnancy was achieved with assisted reproduction technology (ART), such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer (ET), >4 million babies have been born using these technologies . However, it is well known that ART pregnancies are associated with maternal and fetal health risks, including preterm birth (<37 gestational weeks), low birthweight (<2500 g), and small for gestational age (SGA, <10th percentile), compared to naturally conceived births …”

Pioneering contributions by Robert Edwards to oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM)

“…In both publications, oocytes were inseminated in vitro in an attempt to fertilize them. This was pronounced as successfully achieved, but later questioned by others as dubious, as there was no supporting evidence that sperm capacitation had occurred (as discussed in Biggers (2012)). As experienced by Edwards in later years, Gregory Pincus was increasingly criticized in the media of the time for his work on maturing human oocytes in vitro and attempting to fertilize them.…”

Introductory Chapter: New Technologies for the Study of Embryo Cleavage

“…Since the irst rabbit embryo culture was described in 1912 [5] and mouse zygote could be cultured in vitro to form blastocyst stage embryos [6,7], embryo quality has become an important factor for pregnancy after the transfer of in vitro embryo into the uterus because embryo quality has a close correlation with transferred embryo implantation in uterus. Since the birth of the irst "test-tube" baby, Louise Brown in July 1978, for which the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Robert Edwards for developing in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer (ET) to treat infertility in women with non-patent oviducts, in vitro embryo production (IVP) has been widely used in human infertility treatment and animal population reproduction and expansion.…”