Landrum Brewer Shettles
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
and pioneering in vitro fertilization researcher at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
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Biography
Shettles was raised in Pontotoc, MississippiPontotoc, Mississippi
Pontotoc is a city in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, United States. Pontotoc is west of the much larger city of Tupelo. The population was 5,625 at the 2010 census...
and attended Columbia University. He earned M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. In 1951 he duplicated the Rock-Menkin experiments in fertilizing eggs, and in 1954 he received a Markle Scholarship, which was awarded to one scientist at Columbia University each year. In 1960 Shettles published Ovum Humanum, a book containing color photographs of fertilized human eggs in various stages of development. He made the first United States attempt at an in vitro fertilization. The experiment was terminated, which led to a court case by the sperm and egg donors.