Anne McLaren (1927-2007)

McLaren obtained a BSc and PhD Zoology from the University of Oxford in 1952.
She studied the effects of superovulation on the fertility of mice.
In 1958, she was the first scientist to produce a mouse litter through implantation of embryos from test tubes into a surrogate.
McLaren's work paved the way for human in vitro fertilisation and the first ‘test tube baby’ in 1978.
She also worked on DNA hybridisation and chimeras (single organisms with more than one set of DNA).
McLaren was the first Female officer of the Royal Society, as Foreign Secretary in 1991-1996 and then as Vice-President from 1992-1996.

Image: © Courtesy of Gurdon Institute

Author: Anthonia Oluwatuyi (2020) LJMU Student

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