Min Chueh Chang
Encyclopedia
Dr. Min Chueh Chang often credited as M.C. Chang, was a Chinese American
reproductive biologist
. His specific area of study was the fertilisation
process in mammalian reproduction
. Though his career produced findings that are important and valuable to many areas in the field of fertilisation, including his work on in vitro fertilisation
which led to the first "test tube baby", he was best known to the world for his contribution to the development of the combined oral contraceptive pill at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology
.
, the capital city of Shanxi
province, in China
. His family was able to provide for him a good education, and in 1933, he obtained a bachelor's degree
in animal psychology from Tsinghua University
in Beijing
. In 1938, Chang won a national competition and was awarded one of the few available fellowships to study abroad. He went to spend a year at Edinburgh University studying agricultural science
, but found that the university was not to his liking due to a combination of the cold weather and a perceived bias against foreigners there. On an invitation from Arthur Walton, Chang left Edinburgh University and went on to research ram spermatoza
at Cambridge University. With his newfound interest in reproductive biology
, Chang immersed himself in research, working together with other scientists such as John Hammond
and F.H.A. Marshall
, under the tutelage of Arthur Walton. In 1961, he was awarded a Ph.D.
in animal breeding
by Cambridge University on his observations on the effect of testicular cooling and various hormonal treatments on the respiration, metabolism, and survival of sperm in animals.
Chang met his wife, American-born Chinese
Isabelle Chin, in the library at Yale University
, shortly after he moved to the United States
. Chin assumed the role of the housewife in the pair's marriage, allowing Chang to delve into his work without domestic concerns. They have two daughters and a son together - Claudia Chang Tourtellotte, head of the anthropology
department at Sweet Briar College
; Pamela O'Malley Chang, an architect, civil engineer, and sustainable design consultant and Francis Hugh Chang, director of a health center in Boston, Massachusetts
.
Upon his passing, Chang was buried in Shrewsbury
, Massachusetts
, where he had lived and where the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology
was located.
in March 1945, Chang arrived at the recently founded Worcester Foundation of Experimental Biology in Shrewsbury
, Massachusetts
, just outside Worcester
on a fellowship granted to him by Gregory Pincus to learn the technique of in vitro fertilisation. It was apparent that they worked very well together and Chang would eventually spend the rest of his career at the foundation, researching mammalian fertilisation. Funds became increasingly available for research on reproduction after the middle of the century, and the foundation attracted a number of talented scientists. Chang was on hand to guide and advise these individuals who would later become leaders in the field of reproduction. It was also at the foundation that Chang's work which contributed to the development of the oral contraceptive made him one of the co-founders of the combined oral contraceptive pill.
One of Min Chueh Chang's most notable achievements in terms of pragmatic means was his research and testing of the effectiveness of certain steroid
s in the control of mammalian fertility when the steroids were administered orally. This was to lead to his co-invention of the first birth control pill with Gregory Pincus. Chang is arguably most remembered for this endeavor as the birth control pill came to have a tremendous influence on human society and the sexual revolution
. However, controlling fertility was not the primary concentration of his work. Chang's interest lay in sperm
, egg
s, and the fertilisation process itself. The ability to control the fertility of eggs was a necessity to his work. He initiated the study of orally administered contraceptives for mammals to enable him to better conduct his research in fertilisation. Indeed, throughout the span of his 45-year career, only five years, 1951 to 1956, were spent researching and testing the effectiveness of orally administered contraceptives, and this work was mainly on the oral mode of the administration of the contraceptive steroids, rather than on the effectiveness of the steroids themselves, which had already been previously proven.
Chang's body of work in mammalian fertilisation is vast and appears in nearly 350 publications. One of his major discoveries was the effect of lowering temperature on sperm. Chang found that at a temperature of 13°C or lower, the membrane structure and function of sperm would disintegrate, thus destroying the fertilising capacity of the sperm. This phenomenon is now commonly known as cold shock. Yet another of Chang's major discoveries was his observation on the relationship between the number of available sperm and the effective fertilisation of ova
by the sperm. It was believed that the fertilisation of the egg was dependent on there being a very large number of available sperm in the fertilisation process. Chang found that it was actually the physiological structure of the individual sperm that affected the actual fertilisation of the egg, and that having a large number of sperm was not necessary. He then posited that the purpose of having a large number of sperm in the fertilisation process was to allow for greater genetic recombination
, in that only the strongest sperm would reach the site of fertilisation through the female reproductive tract. The process of capacitation
, the maturation period of sperm that is required in order for them to be able to fertilise ova, was also amongst one of Chang's major discoveries. This observation would lead him further to find that capacitated sperm would lose capacitation if exposed to seminal plasma or blood serum, and that recapacitation could be achieved if the sperm was placed back in the uterus
or the fallopian tube
s.
Of all his research and experimentation, Chang's work in in vitro fertilisation
was arguably his greatest achievement. In 1935, Gregory Pincus had claimed to have achieved successful mammal birth from the result of in vitro fertilisation of rabbit eggs. As nobody, including Chang, could repeat this feat at the time, doubts were cast over the authenticity of the claim. Then finally, in 1959, Chang in vitro fertilised a black rabbit's eggs with a black rabbit's sperm, transferred them to a white rabbit, and was able to produce a litter of young black rabbits. This was the sort of evidence attesting to the feasibility of in vitro fertilisation for which many scientists had been searching. In the years that followed, Chang and his associates conducted further research to determine specific conditions of successful in vitro fertilisation as well as to perform the technique on other mammals such as hamsters, mice, and rats. It was on the basis of Chang's findings that the first in vitro fertilisation of human eggs was performed, leading to the birth of the world's first "test tube baby" in 1978.
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
reproductive biologist
Reproductive biology
Reproductive biology is a study mainly involving the reproductive system and sex organs. It is closely related to reproductive endocrinology and infertility. also is miotosis and miosis...
. His specific area of study was the fertilisation
Fertilisation
Fertilisation is the fusion of gametes to produce a new organism. In animals, the process involves the fusion of an ovum with a sperm, which eventually leads to the development of an embryo...
process in mammalian reproduction
Biological reproduction
Reproduction is the biological process by which new "offspring" individual organisms are produced from their "parents". Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each individual organism exists as the result of reproduction...
. Though his career produced findings that are important and valuable to many areas in the field of fertilisation, including his work on in vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation is a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the body: in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed...
which led to the first "test tube baby", he was best known to the world for his contribution to the development of the combined oral contraceptive pill at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology
Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology
The Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research was a non-profit biomedical research institute based in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.-History:...
.
Education and private life
Min Chueh Chang was born on October 10, 1908, in the village of Dunhòu, which lies 64 miles (103 km) northwest of TaiyuanTaiyuan
Taiyuan is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province in North China. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 4,201,591 inhabitants on 6959 km² whom 3,212,500 are urban on 1,460 km². The name of the city literally means "Great Plains", referring to the location where the Fen River...
, the capital city of Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
province, in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. His family was able to provide for him a good education, and in 1933, he obtained a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in animal psychology from Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University
Tsinghua University , colloquially known in Chinese as Qinghua, is a university in Beijing, China. The school is one of the nine universities of the C9 League. It was established in 1911 under the name "Tsinghua Xuetang" or "Tsinghua College" and was renamed the "Tsinghua School" one year later...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. In 1938, Chang won a national competition and was awarded one of the few available fellowships to study abroad. He went to spend a year at Edinburgh University studying agricultural science
Agricultural science
Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. -Agriculture and agricultural science:The two terms are often confused...
, but found that the university was not to his liking due to a combination of the cold weather and a perceived bias against foreigners there. On an invitation from Arthur Walton, Chang left Edinburgh University and went on to research ram spermatoza
Spermatozoon
A spermatozoon is a motile sperm cell, or moving form of the haploid cell that is the male gamete. A spermatozoon joins an ovum to form a zygote...
at Cambridge University. With his newfound interest in reproductive biology
Reproductive biology
Reproductive biology is a study mainly involving the reproductive system and sex organs. It is closely related to reproductive endocrinology and infertility. also is miotosis and miosis...
, Chang immersed himself in research, working together with other scientists such as John Hammond
John Hammond FRS
Sir John Hammond CBE FRS PhD , was a physiologist, agricultural research scientist, veterinarian and Fellow of the Royal Society. He was a pioneer of artificial insemination.-Background and education:...
and F.H.A. Marshall
Francis Marshall
Francis Hugh Adam Marshall, CBE, FRS was a British physiologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1920. He was an early researcher into the science of biological reproduction. His 1910 text The physiology of reproduction was influential...
, under the tutelage of Arthur Walton. In 1961, he was awarded a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in animal breeding
Animal breeding
Animal breeding is a branch of animal science that addresses the evaluation of the genetic value of domestic livestock...
by Cambridge University on his observations on the effect of testicular cooling and various hormonal treatments on the respiration, metabolism, and survival of sperm in animals.
Chang met his wife, American-born Chinese
American-born Chinese
An American-born Chinese or "ABC" is a stereotype that describes a person born in the United States of Chinese ethnic descent, a category of Chinese American. Many are second-generation born after the U.S. Immigration Act of 1965 were free from limits on immigration from East Asia...
Isabelle Chin, in the library at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, shortly after he moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Chin assumed the role of the housewife in the pair's marriage, allowing Chang to delve into his work without domestic concerns. They have two daughters and a son together - Claudia Chang Tourtellotte, head of the anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
department at Sweet Briar College
Sweet Briar College
Sweet Briar College is a liberal arts women's college in Sweet Briar, Virginia, about north of Lynchburg, Virginia. The school's Latin motto translates as: "She who has earned the rose may bear it."...
; Pamela O'Malley Chang, an architect, civil engineer, and sustainable design consultant and Francis Hugh Chang, director of a health center in Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
Upon his passing, Chang was buried in Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 31,640 people, 12,366 households, and 8,693 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 12,696 housing units at an average density of...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, where he had lived and where the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology
Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology
The Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research was a non-profit biomedical research institute based in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.-History:...
was located.
Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology
Near the end of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in March 1945, Chang arrived at the recently founded Worcester Foundation of Experimental Biology in Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 31,640 people, 12,366 households, and 8,693 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 12,696 housing units at an average density of...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, just outside Worcester
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
on a fellowship granted to him by Gregory Pincus to learn the technique of in vitro fertilisation. It was apparent that they worked very well together and Chang would eventually spend the rest of his career at the foundation, researching mammalian fertilisation. Funds became increasingly available for research on reproduction after the middle of the century, and the foundation attracted a number of talented scientists. Chang was on hand to guide and advise these individuals who would later become leaders in the field of reproduction. It was also at the foundation that Chang's work which contributed to the development of the oral contraceptive made him one of the co-founders of the combined oral contraceptive pill.
Professional achievements
Steroid
A steroid is a type of organic compound that contains a characteristic arrangement of four cycloalkane rings that are joined to each other. Examples of steroids include the dietary fat cholesterol, the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone, and the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone.The core...
s in the control of mammalian fertility when the steroids were administered orally. This was to lead to his co-invention of the first birth control pill with Gregory Pincus. Chang is arguably most remembered for this endeavor as the birth control pill came to have a tremendous influence on human society and the sexual revolution
Sexual revolution
The sexual revolution was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the 1960s into the 1980s...
. However, controlling fertility was not the primary concentration of his work. Chang's interest lay in sperm
Spermatozoon
A spermatozoon is a motile sperm cell, or moving form of the haploid cell that is the male gamete. A spermatozoon joins an ovum to form a zygote...
, egg
Ovum
An ovum is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. Both animals and embryophytes have ova. The term ovule is used for the young ovum of an animal, as well as the plant structure that carries the female gametophyte and egg cell and develops into a seed after fertilization...
s, and the fertilisation process itself. The ability to control the fertility of eggs was a necessity to his work. He initiated the study of orally administered contraceptives for mammals to enable him to better conduct his research in fertilisation. Indeed, throughout the span of his 45-year career, only five years, 1951 to 1956, were spent researching and testing the effectiveness of orally administered contraceptives, and this work was mainly on the oral mode of the administration of the contraceptive steroids, rather than on the effectiveness of the steroids themselves, which had already been previously proven.
Chang's body of work in mammalian fertilisation is vast and appears in nearly 350 publications. One of his major discoveries was the effect of lowering temperature on sperm. Chang found that at a temperature of 13°C or lower, the membrane structure and function of sperm would disintegrate, thus destroying the fertilising capacity of the sperm. This phenomenon is now commonly known as cold shock. Yet another of Chang's major discoveries was his observation on the relationship between the number of available sperm and the effective fertilisation of ova
Ovum
An ovum is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. Both animals and embryophytes have ova. The term ovule is used for the young ovum of an animal, as well as the plant structure that carries the female gametophyte and egg cell and develops into a seed after fertilization...
by the sperm. It was believed that the fertilisation of the egg was dependent on there being a very large number of available sperm in the fertilisation process. Chang found that it was actually the physiological structure of the individual sperm that affected the actual fertilisation of the egg, and that having a large number of sperm was not necessary. He then posited that the purpose of having a large number of sperm in the fertilisation process was to allow for greater genetic recombination
Genetic recombination
Genetic recombination is a process by which a molecule of nucleic acid is broken and then joined to a different one. Recombination can occur between similar molecules of DNA, as in homologous recombination, or dissimilar molecules, as in non-homologous end joining. Recombination is a common method...
, in that only the strongest sperm would reach the site of fertilisation through the female reproductive tract. The process of capacitation
Capacitation
Capacitation is the penultimate step in the maturation of mammalian spermatozoa and is required to render them competent to fertilize an oocyte.This step is a biochemical event; the sperm move normally and look mature prior to capacitation....
, the maturation period of sperm that is required in order for them to be able to fertilise ova, was also amongst one of Chang's major discoveries. This observation would lead him further to find that capacitated sperm would lose capacitation if exposed to seminal plasma or blood serum, and that recapacitation could be achieved if the sperm was placed back in the uterus
Uterus
The uterus or womb is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals including humans. One end, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the other is connected to one or both fallopian tubes, depending on the species...
or the fallopian tube
Fallopian tube
The Fallopian tubes, also known as oviducts, uterine tubes, and salpinges are two very fine tubes lined with ciliated epithelia, leading from the ovaries of female mammals into the uterus, via the utero-tubal junction...
s.
Of all his research and experimentation, Chang's work in in vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation is a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the body: in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed...
was arguably his greatest achievement. In 1935, Gregory Pincus had claimed to have achieved successful mammal birth from the result of in vitro fertilisation of rabbit eggs. As nobody, including Chang, could repeat this feat at the time, doubts were cast over the authenticity of the claim. Then finally, in 1959, Chang in vitro fertilised a black rabbit's eggs with a black rabbit's sperm, transferred them to a white rabbit, and was able to produce a litter of young black rabbits. This was the sort of evidence attesting to the feasibility of in vitro fertilisation for which many scientists had been searching. In the years that followed, Chang and his associates conducted further research to determine specific conditions of successful in vitro fertilisation as well as to perform the technique on other mammals such as hamsters, mice, and rats. It was on the basis of Chang's findings that the first in vitro fertilisation of human eggs was performed, leading to the birth of the world's first "test tube baby" in 1978.
Awards and honours
- Albert Lasker Award, given by the Lasker Foundation (1954)
- Ortho Medal, given by the American Fertility Society (1961)
- Carl G. Hartman Award, given by the Society for the Study of Reproduction (1970)
- Francis Amory Prize, given by the American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
(1975) - Wippman Scientific Research Award, given by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (1987)
- Elected membership to the National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
(1990)