Monday, July 16, 2007

Anne Laura McLaren - RIP

Anne Laura McLaren is a renowned reproductive biologist and geneticist. Her works on embryo transfer and culture (she was one of the first to culture mouse embryo outside the womb) lead to a popular Invitro Fertilisation(IVF) technology .

She died in a car accident on 7th July 2007

Fellow scientists rave about her boundless enthusiasm with which she used to pursue her research.At 80,she was very active in research,still publishing papers and books.

Frequently she would come out with a succinct statement such as: "When the embryo is outside the woman's body, genetics tells us that father and mother have equal rights. When the embryo is inside the body, physiology tells us that the woman's right is paramount."

In an interview in Cambridge for the Association for Women in Science and Engineering (AWiSE), of which she was president, she said: "When I was young I never thought of myself as a woman scientist, just as a scientist, and as a woman. There was no statutory maternity leave, we just had children and got on with things as best we could."

says Guardian

Home page of her research group is here

One of the icons of Women scientists,she will remain as a role model.