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Gregory Goodwin Pincus

November 23, 2023

Gregory Goodwin Pincus (April 9, 1903 – August 22, 1967) was an American biologist and researcher who co-invented the combined oral contraceptive pill.[1]

Gregory Pincus
Born(1903-04-09)April 9, 1903
Woodbine, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedAugust 22, 1967(1967-08-22) (aged 64)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materCornell University
Harvard University
Known forCombined oral contraceptive pill
SpouseElizabeth Notkin (died in 1988)
AwardsCameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh (1966)
Scientific career
FieldsBiology
InstitutionsHarvard University
Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology

Early life edit

Gregory Goodwin Pincus was born in Woodbine, New Jersey to Jewish parents, who were immigrants from the Russian Empire.[2] His father was Joseph Pincus, a teacher and the editor of a farm journal, and his mother was Elizabeth (née Lipman), whose family had come from the region that is now Latvia.[3] He credited two uncles, both agricultural scientists, for his interest in research. His IQ was said to be 210 and his family considered him a genius.[4]

Pincus attended Cornell University and received a bachelor's degree in biology in 1924. He attended Harvard University, where he was an instructor in zoology while also working toward his master's and doctorate degrees. From 1927 to 1930 he moved from Harvard to Cambridge University in England to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology with Richard Goldschmidt in Berlin where he performed research. He became an instructor in general physiology at Harvard University in 1930 and was promoted in 1931 to an assistant professor.

Research edit

Dr. Pincus began studying hormonal biology and steroidal hormones early in his career. He was interested in the way that hormones affected mammals' reproductive systems. His first breakthrough came early, when he was able to produce in vitro fertilization in rabbits in 1934. In 1936, he published his discoveries after his experiments. His experiments involving parthenogenesis produced a rabbit that appeared on the cover of Look magazine in 1937. To create the in vitro rabbit baby, Pincus removed the ovum from the mother rabbit and placed it in a solution mixture of saline and estrone. Afterwards, he placed the "fertilized" ovum back into the rabbit. Pincus' experiment became known as "Pincogenesis" because other scientists were unable to attain the same results when conducting the experiment. After he was misquoted in an interview, it was believed that his experiment was the beginning of the use of in vitro for humans.[5]

In 1944, Dr. Pincus co-founded the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. He wanted to continue his research on the relationship between hormones and diseases such as, but not limited to, cancer, heart disease, and schizophrenia. By the end of the 1960s, more than 300 international researchers came to participate in the Worcester Foundation of Experimental Biology.[6]

Pincus never lost interest in mammals' reproduction systems. He began to research infertility.[6] In 1951, Margaret Sanger met Pincus at a dinner hosted by Abraham Stone, director of the Margaret Sanger Research Bureau and medical director and vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), and procured a small grant from PPFA for Pincus to begin hormonal contraceptive research. Pincus, along with Min Chueh Chang, confirmed earlier research that progesterone would act as an inhibitor to ovulation.

In 1952, Sanger told her friend Katharine McCormick about Pincus and Chang's research. Frustrated by PPFA's meager interest and support, McCormick and Sanger met with Pincus in 1953 to dramatically expand the scope of the research with 50-fold increase in funding from McCormick. Pincus was fascinated by Sanger because she revealed what life was like for women who were living in poverty who endured many pregnancies. Sanger indirectly influenced him to create a successful contraceptive to prevent unwanted pregnancies.[6]

In order to prove the safety of "the pill," human trials had to be conducted. These were initiated on infertility patients of Dr. John Rock in Brookline, Massachusetts using progesterone in 1953 and then three different progestins in 1954. Puerto Rico was selected as a trial site in 1955, in part because there was an existing network of 67 birth control clinics serving low-income women on the island. Trials began there in 1956 and were supervised by Dr. Edris Rice-Wray and Celso-Ramón García.

Some of the women experienced side effects from "the pill" (Enovid) and Edris Rice-Wray wrote Pincus and reported that Enovid "gives one hundred percent protection against pregnancy [but causes] too many side reactions to be acceptable". Pincus and Rock disagreed based on their experience with patients in Massachusetts and conducted research showing that placebos caused similar side effects. The trials went on and were expanded to Haiti, Mexico and Los Angeles despite high attrition rates, due to the large number of women eager to try this form of contraception.

In May 1960, the FDA extended Enovid's approved indications to include contraception.

Personal life edit

Pincus married Elizabeth Notkin (1900–1988) in 1924 and they had two children together.[6]

Awards edit

Pincus was the recipient of numerous awards. Some of these awards include the Oliver Bird Prize in 1960, the Julius A. Koch Award in 1962, the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh in 1966, and the American Medical Association's Scientific Achievement Award in 1967.[6] Pincus was acknowledged for his creation of the Laurentian Hormone Conference, which was a conference of endocrinologists. Pincus served as the chairman of the conference and its purpose was to discuss the hormones of the endocrine system. The conference was attended by endocrinologists from all over the world.

Death edit

He died in 1967 of myeloid metaplasia, a rare blood disease, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was 64 years old and lived in Northborough, Massachusetts.[1] His funeral was held August 25, 1967 at Temple Emanuel in Worcester, Massachusetts.[7]

Lasting impact edit

Pincus' birth control pill changed family life in a significant way, because it allowed women to choose—for the first time—when they would have children and plan accordingly around this decision in a deliberate manner. The birth control pill helped pave the way for the women's liberation and concomitant Sexual Revolution movements.[6]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Dr. Pincus, Developer of Birth-Control Pill, Dies". New York Times. August 23, 1967. Retrieved 2007-07-21. Dr. Gregory Goodwin Pincus, one of the three "fathers" of the birth-control pill, died here tonight at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital of myeloid metaplasia, a rare blood disease. He was 64 years old and lived in Northboro.
  2. ^ "Gregory Goodwin Pincus (1903-1967) | The Embryo Project Encyclopedia". embryo.asu.edu. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  3. ^ Gregory Goodwin Pincus Summary – via www.bookrags.com.
  4. ^ David Halberstam (1993). "Chapter 21". The Fifties. Villard. p. 289. The family always believed him to be a genius. His IQ was said to be 210.
  5. ^ Charles W. Carey, Jr.. "Pincus, Gregory Goodwin";
  6. ^ a b c d e f Carey
  7. ^ "Dr. Pincus, Developer of Birth Control Pill, Dead; Funeral Services to Be Held Friday." Jewish Telegraphic Agency 24 Aug 1967.

Further reading edit

  • Briggs, Laura (2002), Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex Science, and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico, Los Angeles: University Of California Press, ISBN 0-520-23258-5
  • Tone, Andrea (2001), Devices and Desires, New York: Hill and Wang, A Division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ISBN 0-8090-3817-X
  • Asbell, Bernard (1995), The Pill, New York: Random House, ISBN 0-679-43555-7
  • Jensen, E V (Oct 1992), "Remembrance: Gregory Pincus--catalyst for early receptor studies", Endocrinology, vol. 131, no. 4, pp. 1581–2, doi:10.1210/endo.131.4.1327714, PMID 1327714
  • Vojta, M (Jul 1973), "[Gregory G. Pincus, 1903-1967]", Ceskoslovenská gynekologie, vol. 38, no. 6, pp. 472–3, PMID 4581418
  • Ingle, D J (1971), "Gregory Goodwin Pincus, April 9, 1903-August 22, 1967", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 42, pp. 229–70, PMID 11615461
  • Garcia, C R (1968), "Gregory Goodwin Pincus. 1903-1967", Int. J. Fertil., vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 267–9, PMID 4882600
  • Hoagland, H (Sep 1968), "Gregory Goodwin Pincus", Genetics, vol. 60, no. 1, Suppl:27, PMID 4887486
  • White, A (Apr 1968), "Gregory Goodwin Pincus (1903-1967)", Endocrinology, vol. 82, no. 4, pp. 651–4, doi:10.1210/endo-82-4-651, PMID 4912220
  • Garcia, C R (Sep 1968), "Gregory Goodwin Pincus (1903-1967)", J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., vol. 28, no. 9, pp. 1245–8, doi:10.1210/jcem-28-9-1245, PMID 4878434
  • Bates, R W (1968), "Gregory Goodwin Pincus. 1903-1967", Recent Prog. Horm. Res., vol. 24, pp. v–vi, doi:10.1016/b978-1-4831-9827-9.50004-6, ISBN 9781483198279, PMID 4882331
  • Weintraub, B. Pincus, Djerassi and Oral Contraceptives. Chemistry in Israel, Bulletin of the Israel Chemical Society. August 2005.

External links edit

November 23, 2023
gregory, goodwin, pincus, april, 1903, august, 1967, american, biologist, researcher, invented, combined, oral, contraceptive, pill, gregory, pincusborn, 1903, april, 1903woodbine, jersey, diedaugust, 1967, 1967, aged, boston, massachusetts, citizenshipunited,. Gregory Goodwin Pincus April 9 1903 August 22 1967 was an American biologist and researcher who co invented the combined oral contraceptive pill 1 Gregory PincusBorn 1903 04 09 April 9 1903Woodbine New Jersey U S DiedAugust 22 1967 1967 08 22 aged 64 Boston Massachusetts U S CitizenshipUnited StatesAlma materCornell University Harvard UniversityKnown forCombined oral contraceptive pillSpouseElizabeth Notkin died in 1988 AwardsCameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh 1966 Scientific careerFieldsBiologyInstitutionsHarvard University Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology Contents 1 Early life 2 Research 3 Personal life 4 Awards 5 Death 6 Lasting impact 7 See also 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External linksEarly life editGregory Goodwin Pincus was born in Woodbine New Jersey to Jewish parents who were immigrants from the Russian Empire 2 His father was Joseph Pincus a teacher and the editor of a farm journal and his mother was Elizabeth nee Lipman whose family had come from the region that is now Latvia 3 He credited two uncles both agricultural scientists for his interest in research His IQ was said to be 210 and his family considered him a genius 4 Pincus attended Cornell University and received a bachelor s degree in biology in 1924 He attended Harvard University where he was an instructor in zoology while also working toward his master s and doctorate degrees From 1927 to 1930 he moved from Harvard to Cambridge University in England to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Biology with Richard Goldschmidt in Berlin where he performed research He became an instructor in general physiology at Harvard University in 1930 and was promoted in 1931 to an assistant professor Research editDr Pincus began studying hormonal biology and steroidal hormones early in his career He was interested in the way that hormones affected mammals reproductive systems His first breakthrough came early when he was able to produce in vitro fertilization in rabbits in 1934 In 1936 he published his discoveries after his experiments His experiments involving parthenogenesis produced a rabbit that appeared on the cover of Look magazine in 1937 To create the in vitro rabbit baby Pincus removed the ovum from the mother rabbit and placed it in a solution mixture of saline and estrone Afterwards he placed the fertilized ovum back into the rabbit Pincus experiment became known as Pincogenesis because other scientists were unable to attain the same results when conducting the experiment After he was misquoted in an interview it was believed that his experiment was the beginning of the use of in vitro for humans 5 In 1944 Dr Pincus co founded the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology in Shrewsbury Massachusetts He wanted to continue his research on the relationship between hormones and diseases such as but not limited to cancer heart disease and schizophrenia By the end of the 1960s more than 300 international researchers came to participate in the Worcester Foundation of Experimental Biology 6 Pincus never lost interest in mammals reproduction systems He began to research infertility 6 In 1951 Margaret Sanger met Pincus at a dinner hosted by Abraham Stone director of the Margaret Sanger Research Bureau and medical director and vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America PPFA and procured a small grant from PPFA for Pincus to begin hormonal contraceptive research Pincus along with Min Chueh Chang confirmed earlier research that progesterone would act as an inhibitor to ovulation In 1952 Sanger told her friend Katharine McCormick about Pincus and Chang s research Frustrated by PPFA s meager interest and support McCormick and Sanger met with Pincus in 1953 to dramatically expand the scope of the research with 50 fold increase in funding from McCormick Pincus was fascinated by Sanger because she revealed what life was like for women who were living in poverty who endured many pregnancies Sanger indirectly influenced him to create a successful contraceptive to prevent unwanted pregnancies 6 In order to prove the safety of the pill human trials had to be conducted These were initiated on infertility patients of Dr John Rock in Brookline Massachusetts using progesterone in 1953 and then three different progestins in 1954 Puerto Rico was selected as a trial site in 1955 in part because there was an existing network of 67 birth control clinics serving low income women on the island Trials began there in 1956 and were supervised by Dr Edris Rice Wray and Celso Ramon Garcia Some of the women experienced side effects from the pill Enovid and Edris Rice Wray wrote Pincus and reported that Enovid gives one hundred percent protection against pregnancy but causes too many side reactions to be acceptable Pincus and Rock disagreed based on their experience with patients in Massachusetts and conducted research showing that placebos caused similar side effects The trials went on and were expanded to Haiti Mexico and Los Angeles despite high attrition rates due to the large number of women eager to try this form of contraception In May 1960 the FDA extended Enovid s approved indications to include contraception Personal life editPincus married Elizabeth Notkin 1900 1988 in 1924 and they had two children together 6 Awards editPincus was the recipient of numerous awards Some of these awards include the Oliver Bird Prize in 1960 the Julius A Koch Award in 1962 the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh in 1966 and the American Medical Association s Scientific Achievement Award in 1967 6 Pincus was acknowledged for his creation of the Laurentian Hormone Conference which was a conference of endocrinologists Pincus served as the chairman of the conference and its purpose was to discuss the hormones of the endocrine system The conference was attended by endocrinologists from all over the world Death editHe died in 1967 of myeloid metaplasia a rare blood disease in Boston Massachusetts He was 64 years old and lived in Northborough Massachusetts 1 His funeral was held August 25 1967 at Temple Emanuel in Worcester Massachusetts 7 Lasting impact editPincus birth control pill changed family life in a significant way because it allowed women to choose for the first time when they would have children and plan accordingly around this decision in a deliberate manner The birth control pill helped pave the way for the women s liberation and concomitant Sexual Revolution movements 6 See also editBirth control movement in the United StatesReferences edit a b Dr Pincus Developer of Birth Control Pill Dies New York Times August 23 1967 Retrieved 2007 07 21 Dr Gregory Goodwin Pincus one of the three fathers of the birth control pill died here tonight at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital of myeloid metaplasia a rare blood disease He was 64 years old and lived in Northboro Gregory Goodwin Pincus 1903 1967 The Embryo Project Encyclopedia embryo asu edu Retrieved 2021 01 26 Gregory Goodwin Pincus Summary via www bookrags com David Halberstam 1993 Chapter 21 The Fifties Villard p 289 The family always believed him to be a genius His IQ was said to be 210 Charles W Carey Jr Pincus Gregory Goodwin a b c d e f Carey Dr Pincus Developer of Birth Control Pill Dead Funeral Services to Be Held Friday Jewish Telegraphic Agency 24 Aug 1967 Further reading editBriggs Laura 2002 Reproducing Empire Race Sex Science and U S Imperialism in Puerto Rico Los Angeles University Of California Press ISBN 0 520 23258 5 Tone Andrea 2001 Devices and Desires New York Hill and Wang A Division of Farrar Straus and Giroux ISBN 0 8090 3817 X Asbell Bernard 1995 The Pill New York Random House ISBN 0 679 43555 7 Jensen E V Oct 1992 Remembrance Gregory Pincus catalyst for early receptor studies Endocrinology vol 131 no 4 pp 1581 2 doi 10 1210 endo 131 4 1327714 PMID 1327714 Vojta M Jul 1973 Gregory G Pincus 1903 1967 Ceskoslovenska gynekologie vol 38 no 6 pp 472 3 PMID 4581418 Ingle D J 1971 Gregory Goodwin Pincus April 9 1903 August 22 1967 Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences vol 42 pp 229 70 PMID 11615461 Garcia C R 1968 Gregory Goodwin Pincus 1903 1967 Int J Fertil vol 13 no 4 pp 267 9 PMID 4882600 Hoagland H Sep 1968 Gregory Goodwin Pincus Genetics vol 60 no 1 Suppl 27 PMID 4887486 White A Apr 1968 Gregory Goodwin Pincus 1903 1967 Endocrinology vol 82 no 4 pp 651 4 doi 10 1210 endo 82 4 651 PMID 4912220 Garcia C R Sep 1968 Gregory Goodwin Pincus 1903 1967 J Clin Endocrinol Metab vol 28 no 9 pp 1245 8 doi 10 1210 jcem 28 9 1245 PMID 4878434 Bates R W 1968 Gregory Goodwin Pincus 1903 1967 Recent Prog Horm Res vol 24 pp v vi doi 10 1016 b978 1 4831 9827 9 50004 6 ISBN 9781483198279 PMID 4882331 Weintraub B Pincus Djerassi and Oral Contraceptives Chemistry in Israel Bulletin of the Israel Chemical Society August 2005 External links editGregory Goodwin Pincus Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gregory Goodwin Pincus amp oldid 1171004676, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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