Summary
This review lecture is primarily concerned with the study of assisted human conception
and especially in-vitro fertilization (IVF). It also places in perspective the role
of endocrinology in history of IVF. A knowledge of the hypothalamic-pituitary control
of ovulation, and of ovarian follicle dynamics is assumed. A detailed consideration
of these topics, together with extensive references, are available in a recent textbook
(Edwards and Brody, 1995).
Many of the early pioneers studying animal reproduction combined reproductive physiology
and endocrinology, especially Marshall, who analysed oestrous and menstrual cycles
in many mammalian species. The clarification of the roles of pituitary gland and hypothalamus
in the menstrual cycle and ovulation, and their regulation by steroidal feedbacks
from the gonads gave an immense stimulus to studies on human reproduction (Smith and
Engle, 1927; Lewis and Gregory, 1933; Harris, 1970). Three periods of research into
assisted human conception are covered in this lecture including the initial work on
the introduction of the endocrinology and embryology of human IVF, the rapid advances
in technique as it expanded worldwide, and finally some of the recent remarkable advances
in the field.
Key words
Fertilization - history - human - in vitro - endocrinology
