Professor Robert Edwards has been awarded the Nobel Prize 2010 Medicine for his work to develop in vitro fertilization. This procedure allows assisted fertilization outside the body of the woman which is very useful for people with reproductive problems.
Edwards, professor at the University of Cambridge , began his research on infertility in the 50's and succeeded, in 1978, the first birth by this method. Since the birth of Louise Brown - first test tube baby - about four million people have been born through in vitro fertilization.
Some studies have investigated whether children conceived through IVF at high risk for genetic diseases or birth but from the Nobel Prize committee claimed that these infants are as healthy as any other child.
In a press conference Monday in Stockholm for the awards, the awards Nobel committee clarified that this award is not related to ethical issues in human embryonic stem cell research, a area that has opened a wide debate in the scientific community and in society in general.
Throughout his long career, Edwards had many collaborators including Patrick Steptoe, who created the first human egg fertilized in a laboratory 1968. His previous work on rabbit embryos led him to discover exactly how hormones regulate the maturation of oocytes and what is the time they are likely to be fertilized by sperm.
Edwards, 85 years old, could not speak with the committee due to health problems, the committee instead reported his wife who said he was grateful for such a great honor and also her husband. It is not known yet if Edwards will attend the awards ceremony, which will be in December in Stockholm.
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