ArticleReproductive biomedicine online2011
Robert Edwards: the path to IVF.
Article in Reproductive biomedicine online, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 86 citations in OpenAlex.
- Capturing aberrant cell behaviors producing defects in human embryos via live imaging.Science advances · 2025Article
- The Evolution of In Vitro Fertilization Practices in Saudi Arabia: Historical Perspectives and Future Directions.Cureus · 2025Review
- The ghostwriter and the test-tube baby: a medical breakthrough story.Medical history · 2025Article
- A deep learning approach to understanding controlled ovarian stimulation and in vitro fertilization dynamics.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Germline genome editing of human IVF embryos should not be subject to overly stringent restrictions.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2024Article
- Education of the clinical embryology laboratory professional: development of a novel program delivered in a laboratory medicine department.F&S reports · 2023Article
- Made, Not Begotten: IVF and the Right to Life Under Conditions.The Linacre quarterly · 2022Article
- Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine Effects on Assisted Reproductive Technology: Six Cases and Their Clinical Significance.Medical acupuncture · 2019Article
- IVF: The women who helped make it happen.Reproductive biomedicine & society online · 2019Article
- Spermatozoa: A Historical Perspective.International journal of fertility & sterility · 2018Article
- The mutual benefits of research in wild animal species and human-assisted reproduction.Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2018Review
- The birth and routinization of IVF in China.Reproductive biomedicine & society online · 2016Article
- Perspective in infertility: the ovarian stem cells.Journal of ovarian research · 2015Article
- The Oldham Notebooks: an analysis of the development of IVF 1969-1978. IV. Ethical aspects.Reproductive biomedicine & society online · 2015Article
- The Oldham Notebooks: an analysis of the development of IVF 1969-1978. II. The treatment cycles and their outcomes.Reproductive biomedicine & society online · 2015Article
- The Oldham Notebooks: an analysis of the development of IVF 1969-1978. I. Introduction, materials and methods.Reproductive biomedicine & society online · 2015Article
- The Oldham Notebooks: an analysis of the development of IVF 1969-1978. III. Variations in procedures.Reproductive biomedicine & society online · 2015Article
- The Oldham Notebooks: an analysis of the development of IVF 1969-1978. VI. Sources of support and patterns of expenditure.Reproductive biomedicine & society online · 2015Article
- The Oldham Notebooks: an analysis of the development of IVF 1969-1978. V. The role of Jean Purdy reassessed.Reproductive biomedicine & society online · 2015Article
- Current issues in medically assisted reproduction and genetics in Europe: research, clinical practice, ethics, legal issues and policy. European Society of Human Genetics and European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.European journal of human genetics : EJHG · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The early influences on Robert Edwards’ approach to the scientific research that led to human IVF are described. His interest as a graduate student in the genetics of early mammalian development stimulated him later to investigate whether the origins of human genetic diseases such as Down, Klinefelter and Turner syndromes might be explained by events during egg maturation. This clinical problem provided the most powerful stimulus to achieve both oocyte maturation and fertilization in vitro in humans. Indeed,preimplantation genetic diagnosis was his main goal until he met Patrick Steptoe in 1968. A re-evaluation of his meeting with Steptoe suggests that initially Steptoe’s laparoscopic skill was of interest for its potential to solve the sperm capacitation problem. Steptoe’simpact on Edwards was twofold. First, Steptoe’s long-held interest in infertility raised this application of IVF higher in Edwards’priorities. Second, Steptoe offered a long-term partnership, in which oocyte collection without in-vitro maturation was a possibility.The professional criticism generated by their work together encouraged Edwards to pursue a deliberate programme of public education about the issues raised and to challenge and develop professional bioethical thought and discourse about reproduction.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.