History of mammalian development in the UK: 1945-present. (360G-Wellcome-084418_Z_07_Z)

This small project is based on the analysis of 12 interviews with leading participants in two aspects of mammalian developmental biology in the post-war UK. One area of interest is in the research directions this field took, in particular given the increasing importance of molecular genetics from the mid-1960s onward. The second is in the resulting new applications to human reproductive technologies such as IVF and PGD, which led to significant social, ethical and political debate. As both a sig nificant episode of scientific research, and one in which scientists played an unusually prominent role in public debate, an interdisciplinary analysis of our interviews is appropriate. Our aim is to refine methods for future study, refine our research questions, identify relevant archives, and improve our practical skills. The longer-term aim of this project is to develop a larger bid for compilation of a public archive of materials related to post-war mammalian developmental biology in the UK .