Honouring the British pioneer of in vitro fertilisation with the Nobel Prize for Medicine ignores the ethical consequences of his opening "the wrong door" in the fight against infertility, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life has said.
British scientist Robert Edwards, a retired professor at the University of Cambridge, England, was named the Nobel winner this week for the development of IVF.
His work led to the birth in 1978 of Louise Brown, the world's first "test-tube baby".
In a press release, the award committee said: "Approximately four million individuals have so far been born following IVF. Many of them are now adult and some have already become parents. A new field of medicine has emerged, with Robert Edwards leading the process all the way from the fundamental discoveries to the current, successful IVF therapy. His contributions represent a milestone in the development of modern medicine."
